AU: SoccerCop in 'Wanted'
by Cosima-wants-the-D-elphine
Summary: SoccerCop fic based off the film "Wanted," but with a twist. Beth is an assassin with a target named Alison Hendrix, but things change when she begins to fall for the one person she's supposed to kill and there's trouble in the Fraternity...
1. Chapter 1: I'm Watching You

The brunette all decked out in black hid in the woman's bushes on the side of the house. Just enough to evade detection, but still enough to be able to keep the target in view. She'd been monitoring the woman's activities for a few weeks, learning not only her schedule, but the rest of her family's as well. If Beth wanted to deliver a clean kill, it was the only way to do it. In reality, Beth could've killed her after the first week or two—the woman's schedule never changed and she was highly predictable, an easy kill for a well-trained assassin—but she hadn't killed her. The woman—Alison Hendrix, aged twenty-eight, two kids and a husband—was surprisingly interesting despite her monotonous life and Beth enjoyed watching her and learning her mannerisms. Her footsteps were always light and particular as if she were walking over a booby-trapped path, and her strides were always modest. She didn't know this, but Beth not only watched her, but followed her to wherever she went. Beth was always in the background, unnoticed by the soccer mom.

Beth shifted her weight and shrunk back as the woman made her way up her front porch steps. She heard Alison Hendrix's feet shuffle toward the door and she heard the soft clinking of keys as the woman inserted them into the lock. Beth wondered how the petite woman could do that; _torture_ her husband with a glue gun or even _watch_ a woman—a close friend at that—choke to death and not do anything about it, only carry on as if nothing had happened at all. If only Beth had killed her after those first couple weeks. It was a choice Beth chastised herself for, for if she had killed Alison Hendrix like the threads had told her to, perhaps the husband, Donnie, wouldn't have had to endure that hell and the blonde—Aynsley Norris—wouldn't have had to die. The threads were never wrong. _Ever_.

Beth shifted her weight again, stiff from squatting for so long, and watched Alison Hendrix disappear into the house. Beth waited until she was sure the woman was gone—probably kicking off her shoes and running to put them away as she always did—before emerging from the bushes and brushing the leaves off herself and plucking the random twigs stuck to her. She sighed as she made her way around the house to climb a large tree she'd familiarised herself with. She sat perched on a thick branch, out of view for anyone who might happen to look out the Hendrix's master bedroom, but still a clear view for Beth. Sure enough, Alison Hendrix's body bent over a few rows of shoes as she placed the recently-worn pair in the only gap of the second line. Beth smiled to herself as she opened a pill container and took a few—it'd be another relaxing night, she could tell.

She found Alison Hendrix's particularity slightly adorable. The assassin blinked a few times and shook her head, wiping the smile off her own face as she refocused on the task at hand. This monitoring was strictly for business. Beth's mission was to kill Alison Hendrix, not start growing fond of her little quirks or the way she kept her things all clean and organised—not that she'd noticed.

Beth cleared her throat softly as she watched Alison Hendrix disappear out of sight—probably to go brush her teeth. Beth checked her watch, which told her that it was eight o'clock at night—exactly when Alison Hendrix brushed her teeth—and she smiled to herself again. No one had cleaner teeth than Alison Hendrix, in Beth's opinion. _No one_. The woman had to brush her teeth at least three times a day, pretty much any time after she'd eaten something even if it was only a bite.

Alison Hendrix shoved her bedroom window open, causing a loud creaking noise and Beth, startled and caught off-guard, lost her balance and almost slipped off the branch and tumbled to the ground below. Beth caught herself with her hands and she dangled there, waiting for Alison Hendrix to disappear, but she didn't. Beth stayed as still as a dangling person could, but Alison Hendrix still insisted on standing by the open window and staring outside.

"Shit," Beth cursed, trying not to kick her feet and make an obvious movement in the tree.

"Donnie?" the target called. Beth couldn't tell if she was directing her voice outside or inside, but the assassin knew she couldn't move until Alison Hendrix moved from that damn window. Her arms began to burn. "Donnie!"

Alison Hendrix's voice adopted an ordering, yet endearing tone when it came to her husband. No one else's name was pronounced the way Donnie Hendrix's was. Beth didn't hear a reply.

"Donnie, are you outside?" Alison Hendrix called out again. Beth held her breath and closed her eyes, praying for the situation to improve.

"No," came the muffled reply that the struggling assassin heard. She silently cursed again and looked back up at her hands, silently willing them to stop slipping and start gripping again.

"Well I think someone's outside," Alison Hendrix notified her husband. Beth didn't worry too much about Donnie Hendrix's response to that. The man was a couch potato. If anything, he'd send Alison Hendrix outside to check it out. Alison took one last look outside before turning away from the window. Beth breathed a sigh of relief and just as she'd repositioned herself, the back door to the house opened and Alison Hendrix emerged wielding a pistol.

"Shit," Beth whispered to herself, backing up slowly against the trunk of the tree. She hadn't accounted for the little suburban woman to own a gun. She'd never seen her use it. "She's got a gun."

"Hello?" Beth heard Alison Hendrix call into the darkness. She pressed herself up against the trunk even harder than before. She scanned the ground for Alison, but didn't see her. She relaxed a little, but nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a noise directly behind her. She turned her head and saw two glowing eyes.

"Meow," the cat said to her. Beth glared at the cat, angry at it for scaring her. It swiped at her, but she dodged it. The cat stared at her, its expression unreadable, yet Beth took it as a challenging look. The cat seemed to say, "There isn't room for the two of us in this tree."

"I agree," Beth whispered to it before scooping it up and throwing it over her head to the ground. The second the cat left her hands, she'd regretted tossing it to the ground like that and waited for the crunching sound of its bones as it hit the ground, but no such sound came. She peeked down and saw Alison Hendrix stroking the cat, which had landed on its feet seemingly unharmed despite the high fall.

"Hello there," Alison Hendrix cooed. "Was that you up in that tree? Are you lost? Do you have a home?"

Beth rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Well you have a home now," Alison Hendrix told it as she picked it up. "You took a nasty fall... That must've hurt.

"Alison?" Donnie Hendrix called from the doorway of the back door. "What are you doing out here?"

"I told you I heard a noise," the woman replied matter-of-factly.

"And I told you I'd check it out when the commercials came on," the husband replied.

"Yeah, and by then we all could've been dead," the petite woman responded, pushing past him and disappearing into the house once again.

"I don't want that thing in here."

"Too bad, we're keeping it. The poor little guy had a nasty fall," Alison Hendrix answered. Beth saw the man roll his eyes before closing the door and heard him lock it. Moments later, the assassin witnessed the couple enter the master bedroom and the brunette set the cat on the bed. The cat bolted and jumped onto the windowsill before curling up on it, caged in by the screen, with its face pointed outward as if it were watching for something.

Beth pointed two fingers at her own eyes and then the cat before whispering, "I'm watching you, you little shit."

"Meow," the cat responded, unblinking. Beth shook her head before dropping down and making her way carefully down the tree. This day's surveillance was over, another day for killing wasted away on watching the Hendrix's routine, a routine Beth already knew like the back of her hand, for the umpteenth time—all for what? Being found out by a neighbourhood stray cat? Beth shook her head once more and muttered to herself as she made her way down the sidewalk to the car she had parked blocks away.

"Stupid," she muttered. "Stupid, stupid, stupid..."


	2. Chapter 2: Three Weeks

_Beth watched Alison Hendrix from her car. The soccer mom was showing the children how to do "ladders," a warm up exercise for the team. Still her footsteps were light and particular. And still they were modest. Beth saw her arms make a motion and assumed she'd said something along the lines of "I forgot something in my car. I'll be right back. Continue with the ladders," and the assassin saw her make her way toward the parking lot. Alison went to the opposite side of the lot from where Beth was parked and so the assassin relaxed and drummed her fingers on her steering wheel as she waited for the woman to come back into view._

_A sharp knocking against her window made her jump and when she turned to see who it was, she came face to face with the target. She jumped before rolling the window down, her mind racing and trying frantically to think of things to say._

_"You," Alison Hendrix remarked with no emotion._

_"Uh, yeah. Me," Beth replied nonchalantly, hoping to play it cool._

_"I've never seen you around the neighbourhood."_

That's a good thing_, Beth thought._

_"No? Well, I—" Beth started_

_"Alright, I'm going to cut the doo-doo and just get to the point. Okay?"_

_Beth nodded._

_"You were outside my house last night," Alison told her calmly. "Up in the big old tree outside my bedroom window. Why?"_

_"Um, I think you have the wrong person—" Beth began._

_"No. No, I don't. I distinctly remember seeing you. You were the one up in the tree—did you throw that poor kitty down?"_

_"What? No! No to both," Beth replied defensively. "You're crazy."_

_"Am I?" Alison asked, yanking open the car door. Beth looked at the inside handle—she was sure she'd locked it. "Out. Now."_

_"Look, you have the wrong idea—"_

_"I said out," Alison ordered, leaning in and reaching over Beth to unbuckle her. Beth put her hands up in surrender and slowly got out of the car._

_"Look, whatever your name is, I really don't want any trouble—"_

_"Neither do I," Alison replied breathily as she slipped off the scarf from around her neck._

_"Whoa, what are you—"_

_"Be quiet," Alison cut her off, tying Beth's hands back. She forcefully turned the assassin around and stared at her with intense brown eyes._

_"What is it that you want?" Beth asked, slightly afraid. She looked into Alison's eyes._

_"You," Alison whispered before fiercely kissing her neck and starting to unbutton her shirt..._

An electronic rhythmic beeping woke Beth out of a sound sleep.

"Shit," Beth murmured as she rolled out of bed. The sky still held its dark hue, as the sun hadn't even risen yet, but she had to get a head start on her observation. She slipped a shirt on, but before she could slip on pants, two knocks on her door interrupted her. "Come in."

"You decent?" a man's voice called through the wood.

"Decent enough," Beth responded. The door opened promptly after her reply and in came a black man whom everyone called Art—short for Arthur or something like that.

"Boss is askin' why you're chokin'," Art commented casually as he looked around.

"You like what I've done with the place?" Beth asked as she gestured to the dull walls and the bare floorboards. She rolled her eyes as she pulled some dark jeans on. "And I'm not choking. Just... give me some time here, Art. Hendrix is... suddenly erratical."

"Erratical? Have you tipped her off? Does she know she's being followed?" Art asked, checking Beth out. The woman put her hands on her hips and stared at him scoldingly until he looked away. "That's not like you, Beth."

"Cool it, dipshit. I haven't tipped anybody off about anything—her marriage is rocky right now. You know people get erratical when something in their personal life is off. Just tell him to gimme a little more time."

"Why don't you just talk to the boss yourself?"

"Because I don't like him," Beth told Art. "And I don't trust him."

"Beth, you're our newest addition. You have no place—"

"I know, I know. I'm a noob so I can't speak out against him. But I don't see any of you guys saying anything."

"He's a respectable man. Let him show you that," Art told her gently. "He's downstairs right now. Go talk to him."

Beth sighed and grabbed her gun as she went out. She made her way downstairs to the centre room where her boss stood.

"Childs," he greeted her. "Good to see you. It's a fine day, isn't it?"

"Yes sir," Beth replied, running a hand nervously through her hair. "I'm here to ask you for more time on Hendrix."

"Why?"

"Her marriage is rocky right now, sir. She's behaving erratically and I can't promise a clean kill," Beth reported gravely.

"Granted," the man replied. He held up three fingers and added, "You have three weeks."

"Thank you, sir," Beth called over her shoulder, desperate to get away from him.

"And one more thing, Childs?" he called after her.

"Hm? Yeah," she stopped and turned to face him.

"Do I need to remind you of the repercussions you will face if you do not annihilate your mark?" he asked.

"No, sir."

"A fine day it is," he commented as Beth continued on her way out.

"What'd he say?" Art asked, running to catch up with her.

"I have three weeks," Beth reported, trying not to sound somber.

"That's it?"

"Well, that and he wanted to remind me of the repercussions," Beth added, withdrawing a pill bottle from her pocket and opening it.

"Oh," Art replied, trying to ignore the number of pills his fellow assassin ingested.

"What?" Beth stopped and looked at Art. "Stop looking at me like that."

"I don't know what's gotten into you, Beth. But I sure hope you sort it out," Art told her empathetically.

"Nothing's gotten into me," Beth replied. "I'm fine."

"Sure you are," Art countered sarcastically.

"Shut up, I'm late for my mark," Beth responded flatly as she pushed the doors to the building open.

"You gonna kill her today?" Art asked incredulously, following her out.

"I just might," she stated as she got into her car.

"Power to you."

Beth started her engine and sped away without replying. She had plenty of ammo in her glovebox and even some stashed in her trunk, yet the actual gun she carried remained unloaded as it had been for weeks.


	3. Chapter 3: Fate Knows

Beth sat carelessly in her car parked on the side of the road opposite of the Hendrix's home staring mindlessly ahead rather than at the house or anyone at all. She sighed as she drummed her fingers against the top of her steering wheel. She knew neighbourhood watch would be around any minute on her case for loitering, but at this point she didn't care. She popped open her glovebox and took out a pill container. The pills inside rattled as she dumped a few into her hand and swallowed them dryly. She screwed the cap back on and just as she'd put it back and closed the glovebox, someone knocked on her window. She rolled her eyes and lowered the window. Once she finally looked up, she came face to face with none other than Alison Hendrix and she jumped in her seat.

"I know, I know. Neighbourhood watch. You don't like me parked here, let me just get out of your way. I don't want any trouble," Beth muttered, making a move to put the window back up.

"No, nothing like that," Alison Hendrix told her, waving her hands for emphasis. The woman gave Beth a tight-lipped smile. "I wanted to speak to you for a moment."

"Oh, then by all means," Beth replied, keeping the window down.

"I've seen your car around—I just didn't know who owned it. I'm assuming you're the mother of the family who just moved in down the street?" Alison Hendrix spoke softly and gently. Beth liked that.

"Uh, yeah. Sure. I mean, yes," Beth nodded vigorously. She figured this woman wouldn't be alive long enough to catch her in the lie and if she was, that'd be more of a drive to kill her. She grinned and added, "Nice to meet you."

"I'm Alison Hendrix."

"I know!" Beth exclaimed. She stopped abruptly and looked at Alison, waiting for a reaction. Alison just stood there looking at her strangely. She plastered another smile on and explained, "People. In this neighbourhood... They speak very highly of you."

"I'm flattered!" Alison responded and Beth relaxed a little. "My husband's name is Donnie. I have two kids—"

"Oscar and Gemma," Beth interjected again. She really hated that she kept doing that, but Alison just made her want to talk and talk. "I hear they're very smart."

"Yes," Alison nodded proudly. "They are."

Beth gave her an amiable smile. She knew she'd broken a few of her boss' rules and crossed some lines just by being this close and this visible, but none of that mattered to her right then. She was talking to Alison Hendrix and Alison Hendrix was seeing her. She knew she'd get caught by the soccer mom, but then again, perhaps she wanted to be.

"I hope I'm not being too forward, but would you like to stop by sometime later this week?" Alison asked. "I'd love to sit down and have a chat with you."

"Oh, uh, is- is Donnie...?"

"Oh, no. He won't be home. Are you shy, Ms...?"

"Beth. Just call me Beth," the assassin replied with a smile. "No, I'm not shy... I just... Like to meet people individually."

"Interesting," Alison commented, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, it gives me a real sense of their character, you know?" Beth nodded once at Alison.

"I understand. Let's see. Today is..."

"Sunday," Beth offered.

"Yes. Sunday. Is this Tuesday good for you?" Alison asked.

"Sure, this Tuesday sounds great."

"Wonderful! I'll see you at eleven?"

"Yup," Beth responded with another smile. Beth counted that as her fifth smile within less than two minutes—more smiles than she'd ever worn in years. Alison nodded once at Beth, looking happy to have another possible friend as she turned toward the house.

"I'll look forward to that," Alison called over her shoulder, waving at Beth. The assassin only smiled and nodded at her before watching her disappear into the house. Beth reluctantly started up her engine and, going completely off her plans to observe Alison all day, she drove aimlessly around town and later the city enjoying a day all to herself.

**. . .**

"I met someone," Alison announced to Donnie as she took two plates out of the cabinets. She set them on the counter and went into the fridge. "Honey, do you want the leftovers from last night?"

"Sure," he absentmindedly replied, his eyes glued to the televisions screen. Alison reached in for two Tupperware containers and set them on the counter. "Who was it that you met?"

"The woman who moved in down the street," Alison told him as she popped each container open.

"Is she nice?"

"Seems to be," Alison replied.

"Hm," came Donnie's grunted reply. Alison bit her lip to keep from saying any more. The woman—Beth—brought out a side of Alison that the suburban woman thought she'd tucked away a long, long time ago; a side of herself that she wanted to ignore.

"She's brunette like me," Alison continued as she divvied out the food onto each plate.

"Yeah?"

"Yes. And she smiles a lot, so that's good," Alison went on as she put the Tupperware containers in the sink. She considered warming the food, but then decided against it. If Donnie wanted warm food, he could warm it up himself. Alison handed him his plate with a fork.

"I would think it's because she's a happy person," he remarked as he accepted the plate and silverware. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Alison replied. She stood there looking at her husband expectantly. When he didn't move she asked, "Aren't you going to come sit with me in the kitchen? You know how I feel about eating in the living room..."

"But, honey, football is on," Donnie complained.

"Fine," Alison sighed, leaving him in the living room and moving into the kitchen. "I'll just eat in here. Alone. All by myself."

Donnie didn't reply as he was already engrossed in the game as it resumed from the commercial break. Alison played with her food, a habit she'd broken her kids of, and set her fork down. She thought of the mysterious Beth and wondered what the woman was up to.

**. . .**

Beth pulled into the Fraternity's parking lot and cut the engine. By then, the pills had kicked in and she felt pretty calm, a side effect from the pills but also a side effect from talking and merely interacting with Alison as a normal human being. For that seemingly too-short moment, the world had melted away and Beth wasn't an assassin and Alison Hendrix wasn't her target, they were just two women talking and getting to know one another.

Beth got out of her car and made her way into the building. She passed the weaving machines and went upstairs to her own room and sat on her bed, staring at the wall and thinking. Art poked his head in and interrupted her thoughts.

"How'd it go?"

"I couldn't kill her," Beth admitted. "I had her right in plain sight. No obstacles, no other people as possible witnesses. Nothing. And I didn't kill her."

Art sat down next to her and looked over at her with empathising eyes.

"I know how that feels..." he told her softly.

_Do you? _Beth wondered.

"She's a sheep," Art remarked. "A lamb. She seems innocent."

Beth held in a snort.

_Alison Hendrix innocent? How funny._

"But the threads know," Art went on. "They know. You need to kill her. What if she kills others? You would have been able to prevent those deaths. You need to kill her before anything bad happens."

"Yeah..." Beth nodded.

"This Fraternity... It's very important to Aldous."

"I know..."

"What we do is for the sake of humanity, remember? We got this, Beth. We do it for the good of the majority. One life for a thousand."

"But we can leave if we want to, right?" Beth asked. "Like DeAngelis?"

"Are you having second thoughts?" Art asked her.

"Maybe."

"What could possibly make you, number one killer, change your mind?" Art inquired.

"You never answered my question," Beth responded. "Can we leave like DeAngelis did?"

"She didn't leave... She betrayed us," Art corrected her. "And from what I hear, she's gone rogue and is killing people left and right. I'm after her right now. So you see, what we do, we do for a purpose."

"One life for a thousand," Beth whispered as she nodded.

"Exactly. So are you ready to get back out there and kill your mark?"

"Yes!" Beth stated firmly. She was sure of herself now. She wouldn't let Ms. Alison Hendrix get to her head. The woman had watched a woman die. There were still nine hundred ninety-nine people that could possibly die at her hands and Beth didn't want that.

**. . .**

"Are you sure?" the blonde asked, looking up at Aldous.

"Positive. The Loom of Fate is never wrong," the man replied, handing the swatch to her. "You can check it yourself if you'd like."

The man tossed a pencil and a piece of paper to her and watched as the woman laid the swatch down, converted the binary code into letters and read them.

**01000101010011000100100101011010010000010100001001000101010101000100100000100000010000110100100001001001010011000100010001010011**

**ELIZABETH CHILDS**

The blonde slapped the pen down angrily, but recomposed herself before facing Aldous. Aldous raised his eyebrows at her and gave her a strange smile.

"You see? I am no liar. There's her name, as plain as day in the swatch."

"What is it that you want me to do?" Rachel asked, keeping her English lilted voice even as she forced herself to make eye contact with her boss.

"Do as you would had it been any other name," Aldous instructed. "There's your mark. Now, eliminate it."

"How much time does she have, sir?"

"After she kills Hendrix," Aldous responded, "you have one week. Your time starts the moment Hendrix's heart stops beating. But until then, you are targetless, understood?"

Rachel nodded.

"Good. You're dismissed."

"But why her?" Rachel asked just as she approached the doorway. She turned to face the man and waited for an answer. "You can't just ignore this one name?"

"I feel she's gone soft. She may just end up like DeAngelis. Fate knows," Aldous stated with confidence. "I would've ignored DeAngelis' too, but she's proven to be a murderous traitor. That is why we must never shy away from Fate. It is very wise."

"Of course it is, sir," Rachel nodded once before exiting the room.


	4. Chapter 4: I Like it When You're Here

Beth still parked her car blocks away from the Hendrix's house even though she'd been invited over for a fourth time in almost two weeks. She didn't know who might see her or be watching and she had to look believable. She locked her car twice, making sure she really did it and looked back at it once more before starting down the sidewalk.

_How long can you keep up this charade?_ a voice in her mind asked.

_What charade?_ her mind asked it.

_Either one, _came its reply.

Beth's steps slowed down, unsure of what 'Either one' meant. Maybe this whole thing was one huge mistake. She could always just not show up—ever. Beth stopped quick and turned around, starting for her car.

_You need to get to know your subject,_ a voice insisted. Beth stopped walking for a second time within a few seconds. She contemplated ignoring the voice as she knew it was manipulating her into going to see Alison Hendrix up close again. _A fourth visit won't hurt..._

_There's charade number one,_ another voice commented softly. Beth looked around, wondering how strange she looked, but no one was around to witness her indecisiveness.

"Fuck it," Beth muttered, turning around to go to the Hendrix house. She figured she ought to see her—it was too late to back out. It'd be rude to stand her up. Beth's footsteps quickened as she continued on her way, never noticing the blonde head poking up out of a seemingly empty car.

**. . .**

"Elizabeth Childs, where are you going?" Rachel murmured to herself as she watched the brunette walk by. She shook her head as she watched the highly dangerous assassin walk along the side of the road like a regular person without a care in the world. Rachel waited for the woman to turn down another street before starting up her car and creeping down to the end of the road to just before where Beth had turned. The woman then turned up a driveway. The mailbox at the end read HENDRIX. "To Hendrix's again? Childs, Childs, Childs..."

**. . .**

Beth stood at the door and stared at the welcome mat before working up the courage to knock. She knocked three times and waited. She knew that she had about thirty seconds before she'd hear Alison's footsteps. The suburban woman would race down the stairs, stop and check herself out in a mirror in the hall, adjust her ponytail, and straighten her shirt out before she would answer the door. Right on '30', the door swung open to reveal a smiling Alison.

"Hi," Alison greeted her shyly, offering a hand to the assassin. Beth looked at it then quickly smiled at her and took the hand with her own. Alison's hand felt soft and warm, to which Beth had grown accustomed.

"Hi," Beth replied evenly. Alison stepped aside, beckoning for Beth to come in. Beth took a step in and allowed Alison to close the door behind her.

"So what do you do, Beth?" Alison asked, leading her into the kitchen where she'd set out a bottle of wine and two glasses. Beth tried not to gawk at the set-up or think too much of it as she took the time to admire Alison's knife rack. "I figured I might as well ask by now."

"Isn't it a bit early for alcohol?" Beth asked, refocusing herself on Alison. She couldn't help it. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her. Alison gestured to a stool and Beth pulled it out and sat on it.

"It's never too early for alcohol," Alison responded with a lighthearted smile and a joking tone as she poured Beth half a glass. The assassin tried not to be too bothered by the fact that she hadn't asked how much she wanted. She'd just assumed. Correctly. Beth stared at the stream of purple and listened to the noise it made as it accumulated in the glass.

"I'm um, I'm a detective," Beth told her, answering her question from earlier. She slid a glass over to herself and looked at her own reflection in it.

"A detective!" Alison exclaimed, taking a sip. "That's interesting!"

"Yeah, it's... Difficult, but never a dull day," Beth nodded, deciding to drink some in order to fill the space.

"How much college do you need for that?" Alison inquired. "My son wants to be a cop. But last week it was a fireman. You know how boys are. But I'm sure he'll love you when he meets you! But be warned. You _will_ be pelted with questions."

"Oh, uh, not _too_ much college," Beth told her, hoping that wasn't a lie. "The main part is getting promoted from officer to detective."

"I went to college... I liked kinesiology... College was a crazy time," Alison smiled faintly at the memories pouring into her mind.

"Was it? For you?" Beth asked, trying not to gawk at how quickly Alison was drinking her wine. "I'm sorry, you just don't strike me as the wild type."

"Yes, well, it was a time of self-discovery... Self-denial... But even... Self-acceptance in some ways, I suppose..." Alison trailed off before taking her last sip.

"Care to expand on that?" Beth asked, raising her glass to her lips as she looked at Alison intently. The suburban woman poured herself another glass as the assassin spoke to her.

"My partner at the time... She kind of did her own thing. She didn't go to college with a set career choice. I almost think she went just so she could say she'd gone," Alison explained, watching Beth's face for a reaction to her story.

"So you had a girlfriend," Beth commented, nodding. Up went the glass to Alison's lips yet again. She felt a twinge of jealousy and tried to wash it away with a sip of wine. it didn't work.

_Charade number two,_ a voice cackled triumphantly.

"Yes and no. I was, let's say, _experimenting_."

"And what was your _conclusion_ to your little _experiment?_" Beth asked nonchalantly. "If I may ask."

"I've found happiness in my husband, Donnie," Alison replied with a single, sharp nod. She took a long, awkward sip of her wine. Beth stared at her questioningly.

"You... never answered my question?" Beth remarked, still staring.

"You're very inquisitive," Alison commented with an unreadable tone as she seemed to drink the majority of her second glass. Beth panicked for a second until she saw Alison smile. "I like that. It means you like knowledge."

"Yeah, gathering knowledge... Kinda my thing," Beth shrugged. She stared at Alison, unaware of the irony of the statement, but whose eyes also seemed glossed over. Probably from the wine.

"Of course it is," Alison agreed as she poured herself another glass of wine before hers was even finished. "More?"

Alison gestured to Beth's nearly empty glass and the assassin waved her hand and shook her head. Alison being drunk was one thing—and man could that woman drink—but Beth couldn't let herself go like that. Not yet, at least.

"No, thank you."

"Hm. Suit yourself," Alison replied, setting the bottle down. "My conclusion to my little experiment is that I like women. And men. But um, mostly men. I don't... I mean, perhaps it was just a phase."

"Just a phase, huh?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Maybe."

"Would you ever go for a girl now?" Beth asked, leaning in and looking at Alison's glossy pink lips. Alison stared at Beth long and hard as if she'd just asked her the meaning of life.

"I- I've found happiness in my husband. Donnie," the woman repeated herself from earlier in a voice that said otherwise. She reached for her wineglass for comfort. Beth could tell she'd be taking another reassuring swig from it soon. The assassin watched Alison's eyes fall onto her own lips and she smiled knowingly.

"Yes, that may be so. But say you weren't married yet. Would you ever go for a girl now?" Beth asked again, watching Alison's face. Alison blinked a few times rapidly and Beth hoped she hadn't gone too far with asking.

"You know, you're very easy to talk to," Alison sighed, blinking slowly as she gazed into Beth's eyes. She took a large gulp of wine before she smiled lazily an pointed a finger at her. "That's dangerous—_you're_ dangerous."

"Am I?" Beth asked with an amused smirk.

_You have no idea..._

"Yes. Yes because you could really unravel a person—"

"A person like you?" Beth asked, testing Alison.

"—and do some damage... That's dangerous," Alison continued. She paused, absorbing Beth's statement. She whispered still keeping her smile, "Yes. Yes, a person like me."

"And what is there for me to unravel?" Beth inquired in a strange tone, completely focused on Alison. "Are you not an open book?"

"I'm gonna tell you this because I... _trust_. You," Alison remarked absentmindedly. "I trust _you_."

"Okay... Lay it on me."

"Donnie..." Alison paused again. "He left me alone the other day. He stood me up for football. What is he gonna do with that anyway? Can he _bounce_ a football like a ball?"

Beth's eyes squinted out of confusion and her brows furrowed as she asked, "What?"

"Well I suppose he could... It is a ball after all—silly me!" Alison exclaimed, putting a hand against her own face as she looked back up at Beth. "I'll bet it bounces higher too... No wonder... It's such steep competition..."

"You're not making any sense—"

"That's okay. You understand..."

"No. See, I don't," Beth told her.

"You're a cop... You figure it out," Alison paused in anticipation. Beth only blinked in response. This wasn't supposed to happen. None of it. Not her visit with her own damn target. Not the drunkenness between them. And certainly not the unloading of nonsensical emotional baggage. If anything, it made Alison more human and less... target-y. Alison pointed to Beth's chest. "Is that your uniform?"

Beth peered down at her white shirt and dark pants.

"No, it's not—"

"You know, you're _very_ pretty. _Very_."

"Am I?"

Alison nodded as she slipped off her stool and approached Beth.

"Have you ever considered wearing your hair up?" she asked, raising an arm up as if she were about to stroke Beth's hair. Beth slipped off her stool backwards and dodged the contact by ducking away from the woman's approaching hand. She gently grabbed Alison's arm by the wrist and set it by her side.

"Okay, I didn't know you were like this..." Beth murmured as Alison stared helplessly at her. Beth looked around for a distraction and her eyes settled once again on the knife rack. Alison was vulnerable. And intoxicated. Perfect chance to kill her right then and there. No one was home. No one would see her. Sure she would've preferred a gun, but she didn't have one at that moment. A kill was a kill, she decided.

_Alison Hendrix. Aged 28. A husband and two kids. Adopted kids. A witness and accidental murderer. And an alcoholic? Possibly deeply unhappy..._ Beth's mind raced with tidbits of information on the woman. She cleared her head and grabbed Alison gently by the arm.

"Okay... We just met... I can't have you collapsing on me," she muttered, leading the off-balanced woman upstairs. After a few minutes of struggling, Beth had managed to get Alison to the top of the stairs.

"You're too kind," Alison murmured, looking at Beth. The assassin rolled her eyes as she sat the woman down on the bed.

"Lie down," Beth instructed firmly and coolly, trying to distance herself from Alison. "Just... Stay. Right there. Don't move."

Alison remained still, staring up at the ceiling and unaware of Beth's intentions to kill her. The assassin took one last glance at her before turning to walk out the door. Just as her body passed through the doorway, she heard a weak voice call out for her.

"Beth?" Alison called feebly from the bed. Beth froze in place and cringed, not knowing what to expect. She turned around slowly and kept a patient countenance.

"Yes?"

"Please don't leave me..." Alison begged softly. Beth felt her heart crumble at the doleful desperateness in her tone of voice. Beth rolled her eyes, more at herself than Alison, and trudged back over to her. The soccer mom smiled up at her thankfully before lightly closing her eyes. Beth took this time to give Alison's face a hard stare as she tried to will herself into not feeling anything toward this woman. Alison scooted clumsily over and patted the bed. "Come lie down with me."

Beth stood still, all her muscles rigid and her feet nailed to the floor. She swallowed hard and pressed her lips together and continued staring at Alison, who hadn't even opened her eyes to speak. The assassin's eyes swept over Alison's closed, seemingly peaceful eyes to her cute nose and then to her relaxed pink lips. To her chin and her neck that moved whenever she swallowed. To her petite shoulders to which her skinny arms were connected and to her chest and her stomach that rose and fell with each tranquil breath. Down to her hips and her legs and all the way to her feet. Beth crept closer like a curious creature and her sight moved back up to the suburban woman's face.

"You still there?" Alison asked, opening one eye to peek at Beth. The assassin nodded silently before deciding to at least sit on the end of the bed.

"Yeah, I'm still here," she sighed heavily. She'd never seen this side of Alison. Perhaps killing her would be doing her a favour. Put her out of her miserable loneliness of which she never spoke.

"Promise you won't leave, okay?" Alison asked, keeping her eyes closed. Beth stared at her for a long time, watching her breathe and rest.

"I promise," she whispered. She witnessed a small smile spread on Alison's face in response to her statement and she found herself smiling too. She quickly wiped the smile off and grew serious as she turned her attention from Alison to the wall. She had to remain on schedule. She had about a week and a half left to kill her otherwise she herself was all over. After a while of sitting and doing absolutely nothing—not even really thinking about anything either—Beth got up in slow motion so as not to disturb the bed and cause Alison to wake up. She peeked over her shoulder at the woman who seemed to be asleep.

Just as her right foot crossed the line between the room and the hallway, she heard a meek, "_Beth_..."

She locked her jaw shut and pressed her lips together as she rolled her eyes. She straightened her posture and recomposed herself as she turned around for a second time.

"Yes?" she asked through clenched teeth.

"Don't leave me," Alison reminded her again, although a pleading tone still clung to her voice. Despite Beth's efforts, her heart melted yet a second time. She sighed and returned to the bed, sitting down on the edge. After a few seconds of sitting, without another word, she turned herself horizontal so that she lay down as Alison had asked of her earlier.

"I'm not leaving..." she murmured, staring at the white ceiling. She lifted her arm and rested the back of her wrist against her own forehead and exhaled deeply.

"Good. I like it when you're here," Alison mumbled, scorching closer to Beth. Every fibre of the woman's being wanted to move away from the suburban woman to make up for the space lost, but nevertheless, she stayed where she was.

Before she could help herself, Beth heard her mouth utter the words, "Good because I like it when I'm here too."


	5. Chapter 5: One and a Half Weeks Left

Beth woke with a start and took in the unfamiliar surroundings. She was not in some dreary plain room, but a room with pastel colours everywhere. Disoriented, she freaked and fell out of bed and landed on the carpeted floor with a thump. She sat there dazed and trying to blink the sleep from her eyes.

"Shit..." she murmured as her location clicked in her mind. All the events leading up poured into her mind as she got up off the floor and straightened out the side of the bed from which she'd tumbled. She ran her hand through her hair and looked down at Alison's sleeping face, still as beautiful as ever. She shook her head in denial as she began to pace. There was something she was forgetting; something important. But what was it? She paced some more and began biting her nails.

"Beth?" Alison rolled over and stared at her blankly. Her eyes widened and she sat up quickly as she continued staring at Beth, more awake now. "What're you doing here?"

"You asked me to stay with you and I did," Beth replied sharper than she'd meant to. She gave the woman an apologetic look.

_Donnie_, her brain finally reminded her.

"Donnie!" Beth exclaimed. "Where is Donnie? Did he- Could he have seen us?"

"No, no..." Alison trailed off, struggling to think. She put her fingers on her temples and rubbed them. "He's at his mother's—no! No, he's on a weekend camping trip. With the kids."

"Why didn't you go?"

"I don't like camping too much... But more importantly I felt that the kids needed some bonding time with their father..."

"Really?" Beth asked flatly, putting her hands on her hips. Alison stared at her and could feel the doubt radiating off her.

"I needed a weekend to myself," Alison admitted, rolling out of bed.

"A weekend to yourself, but with me—_Jesus_, Alison!" Beth shook her head and started towards the door. Alison leapt after her and grabbed her wrist.

"Where are you going? What's the matter?" Alison asked. Beth turned to face her with her eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"What's the matter?" she asked incredulously. "You're asking me."

Alison nodded, to which Beth sighed.

"Nothing," Beth told her.

"It's obviously something," Alison insisted.

"It's just... You've had me over four times in less than a week and a half," Beth casually put out. She watched Alison's face, but received no visible reaction. "Don't you think that's a bit much?"

"No... I like seeing you," Alison told her. Beth hated the innocence behind the suburban woman's voice, but she hated even more that she had no way of telling the innocence's depth of sincerity. Beth's tired eyes narrowed at Alison as she inhaled deeply and slowly. "Don't you like seeing me?"

Beth chewed the inside of her lip as she gazed at Alison. She didn't know how to answer that question or if she should even answer it at all.

"Yeah..." the assassin sighed before admitting, "I do like seeing you. A lot."

Alison's face allowed a pleased smile as she passed Beth and went downstairs. The assassin hesitantly followed her and found her in the kitchen and saw her take out two plates. Beth worked up the courage to speak and averted her eyes once she started.

"Um, I'm not- I'm not going to stay for breakfast if you don't mind..." Beth told the cabinets. Her eyes involuntarily flitted to Alison's face and she caught the disappointment that flashed across it—the very thing she'd been trying to avoid seeing. "I- I have somewhere to be... The chief needs me. We're working on this case..."

"No, no. I completely understand," Alison nodded, stacking one dish on top of the other and forcing a smile. "You're a busy woman."

"Yeah..." Beth scratched the back of her neck and forced an equally painful smile. "But it was great seeing you again. Really."

"Pleasure was all mine," Alison nodded again as she watched Beth stride over to the front door. Beth paused and then came back over to Alison. She took out a pad and a pen and began scratching something down. She ripped the paper clean off and slid it over to Alison.

"There's my number... Call me sometime—whenever you'd like, okay?" Beth stated with a self-deprecating grin. Alison sighed and accepted the small sheet of paper and nodded slowly.

"Okay."

"Even when I'm on duty," Beth added and Alison nodded yet again. The assassin threw in a dazzling smile. "Promise?"

"I promise," Alison smiled. Beth finally felt good to leave as she'd gotten Alison to smile—the only thing that mattered any time she left whether Alison knew it or not—and so she waved and headed out the door.

Just as she finished the last step, she looked up and saw a hauntingly familiar car that belonged to a fellow assassin called Duncan. She peeked over her shoulder, saw that Alison was nowhere to he seen, and used one hand to pound on the glass.

"C'mon, bitch, I know you're in there," she growled. Rachel poked her head up and smirked sheepishly, yet threateningly. Other than that, she seemed unabashed by being caught as she rolled the window down.

"Childs. What coincidence seeing you here," Rachel sarcastically remarked. She smirked again. "Again. For a fourth time."

"What, the boss want you to check up on me?" Beth angrily inquired as she leaned against the car.

"Something like that," Rachel offered a strange smile. "We're just worried that you've become the victim."

"Who's we?" Beth asked defensively.

"The Fraternity of course," Rachel replied matter-of-factly. "Who else?"

Beth glared at Rachel who simply looked back with an innocent expression which only pissed Beth off more.

"By the way, Aldous gave me a message for you," Rachel mentioned. "He says you have one and a half weeks left. I'd say don't blow it, but... Well... It looks like you haven't blown anything at all yet, have you?"

Rachel's sneering face was the last thing Beth saw before Rachel pulled out of her parked position on the side of the road and sped away. The assassin shook her head and dug around in her pocket, feeling for the familiar shape of her pill bottle.

"Fuck you, Rachel..." Beth spat, dumping a couple capsules into her hand before swallowing them. "_Fuck. You._"


	6. Chapter 6: I Couldn't Kill You

"Rachel, can I talk to you for a second?" Art called to the blonde. Art saw the woman keep walking and with her went his patience. He abruptly stopped following her and raised his voice. "I _said_ can I talk to you for a second."

He put his hands on his hips and shifted his foot onto one foot. Rachel's pretentious attitude irritated him, but his curiosity was stronger than his annoyance. He watched the Brit pause and turn around, seemingly just as irritated with him as he was with her.

"Yes?"

"What the hell have you been up to lately?" Art asked sharper than he'd meant to. He found it suspicious that Rachel had been disappearing, but never once mentioned anything. Someone as ostentatious as she usually always mentioned something about her latest mark.

"What do you mean exactly?" Rachel asked, displaying no emotion.

"I mean how's it going with your mark?"

"I don't have a target as of right now," Rachel told him, crossing her arms and looking into his dark eyes.

"Bullshit. You must have a target. What else have you been up to this past week?"

"Having a life of my own and enjoying it at that," Rachel lied.

"Oh really?" Art responded flatly, crossing his arms. Rachel uncrossed hers and put her hands on her hips as she shifted her weight to balance evenly on both feet.

"Yes. Really," she answered curtly. "Now if there's nothing else, I'd prefer it if you left me alone—"

"Why the hell wouldn't you have a mark?" Art pressed.

"Excuse me?"

"Fate doesn't take a break, according to Aldous. So why are you?"

"Perhaps it's because I'm the one who's been with the Fraternity longest," Rachel replied. "Besides Aldous himself."

"Are you implying that Fate knows about and respects seniority? _Bull_. _Shit!_" Art spat.

"No, I'm implying that Mr. Aldous—does," Rachel replied before turning to walk away. Art considered calling after her, but decided it wouldn't be worth the hassle.

"I guess I just don't understand why he'd favour you of all people," Art replied, turning in the opposite direction. "But I guess I'll just ask him myself about that too."

"If that'll satisfy you," Rachel responded before disappearing out of sight. Art rolled his eyes and trudged down the hall toward their boss' office. The door was left slightly ajar and Art could feel a breeze coming through the crack just before he pushed it open.

"Art!" Aldous exclaimed overly enthusiastic to see him. "Come on in! Close the door behind you, please."

Art complied and gently closed the door as he took a few steps forward toward the man. He'd felt confident seconds ago, but his boss' presence drained him completely of whatever confidence he'd had.

"I hear Duncan doesn't have a mark," Art casually remarked, putting his hands in his pockets as he stopped about a yard away from the man and his desk. "Why is that?"

"Art, let me tell you a little something about seniority—"

"Oh come _on_, Aldous... You don't expect me to believe that, do you? Rachel already tried that one on me."

Aldous smiled strangely at Art before continuing, "You're a smart man, Art. I figured you'd understand seniority. But, I suppose I shouldn't expect you to believe that. Truth is, we've got another worm."

"Other than DeAngelis?" Art asked.

"Other than DeAngelis," Aldous nodded with his hands clasped behind his head. "And I've sent Rachel after the worm because I trust that she won't be biased and let her slip between her fingers."

"Her?" Art murmured, his mind racing. He put two and two together—it wasn't hard either as Beth really was the only other female assassin. "You mean Beth? She's the worm?"

"Indeed. Why do you think she hasn't killed her mark? It's only right to assume DeAngelis got to her and corrupted her somewhere along the line. Those two always were close..."

"No. No, Beth isn't a worm," Art argued, shaking his head. "She wouldn't do something like that. She is a righteous woman and loyal to you and the Fraternity. You've got it all wrong."

"Fate is never wrong," Aldous replied with another strange smile. "A good day to you, Arthur."

"Sir—"

"I said _good day_, Arthur," Aldous cut him off, his eyes going to the door behind the assassin. Just as Art flexed his jaw before turned around, Aldous spoke again. "How are you making out with DeAngelis, Arthur? Your deadline is approaching as well."

"I have her whereabouts," Art replied without turning to face the man. "I was planning to kill her later today or tomorrow."

"Excellent," Aldous responded. "You're dismissed."

Art left and closed the door behind himself before staring down the dark hallway and trying to make sense of everything. Aldous and Rachel had almost identical answers and Art didn't believe either one of them. And when he'd called Aldous out, the man had suddenly pinned Beth for a worm when Art couldn't see where anything she'd said or done could possibly lead to that conclusion. Even when she'd started having second thoughts on her allegiance with the Fraternity, she didn't seem as if she wanted to go against them but rather just drop out altogether. Nothing traitorous at all.

**. . .**

"Beth, you seem distracted today... Are you alright?"

Beth woke from her daze as Alison's voice penetrated her thoughts. She refocused her eyes on Alison's concerned face and offered her a lazy smile.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she answered.

Truth was that Beth couldn't stop thinking about how Alison told her that she liked it when she was around or how happy she seemed when she'd given her that slip of paper with her cellphone number on it. Something about that light going on behind Alison's eyes or the way that rare, huge grin spread across her face. She was going to miss that.

"No, really... Is there anything you want to tell me?" Alison asked, leaning over the counter and staring into the assassin's eyes. Beth tensed up inwardly and swallowed hard as her eyes defied her and went to look at the woman's lips. She figured she had less than a week left, she might as well fess up now. She gathered her courage and forced herself to look back up at Alison's brown eyes as she took a deep breath.

"Remember when you said you liked it when I was here?" Beth asked, watching Alison's face for any sign of discomfort.

"Yes... But I also distinctly remember you saying that you liked being here too—"

"I know."

Beth hesitated and gripped the edge of the counter for support before she tried to speak again.

"But... I mean... Exactly how much do you like me being here?" Beth asked, cringing at herself as soon as the words left her mouth. This wasn't going how she'd planned.

"A lot. You keep me company and I can tell you're a very kind, compassionate woman... _very_ dedicated..." Alison trailed off, studying Beth's expression. "Why?"

"I— um... It's nothing, actually. I don't know why I brought it up," Beth answered quickly, releasing the counter from her grasp and wiping her sweaty palms on her pants. "Sorry I asked."

Alison's watchful eyes made her even more nervous as a silence settled between them. Beth's eyes darted to look anywhere but Alison's and she tried to distract herself from the intensity of Alison's gaze.

"Are you... sure? It didn't seem like nothing..." Alison pressed. Beth took one look at her and surrendered. She had to confess. It was now or never. "Whatever it is, you _can_ tell me..."

"This is... going to be a long story—" Beth warned.

"That's fine," Alison told her as she turned around to go get a bottle of wine and two glasses. Beth looked at them as the woman set them down on the counter in front of her.

"—that you might just want to be sober for."

"Okay," Alison nodded once and turned back around to put everything away. She leaned over the counter once more and looked at Beth. "Begin."

"This is going to sound crazy, but... _please_ just... hear me out. You know, before you say anything. I'm an assassin. And I... I belong to a fraternity of assassins, really. And we're given marks to kill—that's what assassins _do_. And a few weeks ago, maybe months, I don't really know anymore—the time has escaped from me—I was given a mark. And you see, these marks are chosen by Fate... They're projected in this special loom. I don't know how it works, but it does—trust me. It always seems to know things—one life for a thousand is the saying we go by. Like, if we take one life, we could be saving thousands. And anyway my mark, well, it was you..."

"_Me?_" Alison gasped, standing up straight and her hand flying to the pendant around her neck for comfort. Beth watched her fingers curl around it and fiddle with it. "So this is it. This is how I go? You're telling me right now because you're about to kill me, right? Tell me, what did I ever do to have this supposed Fate choose me? I'm a _well-behaved _citizen. I've never been arrested, never been to prison—"

"You watched a woman die. You clubbed your husband over the head," Beth countered, taking her hand. Alison slipped it away from her and stared at her. "But that's not what's important and that isn't why I'm telling you this right now—that's the thing... I don't intend to kill you. May I continue?"

Alison nodded silently.

"You were my target. I was supposed to kill you weeks ago, but I couldn't—"

"When you were parked outside..." Alison murmured.

"Even before then," Beth confessed. "But I couldn't bring myself to do it. So I asked for more time. They gave me three weeks—"

"And then you parked outside."

"Yeah... I got to know you a little bit from observing you. I'm so sorry you have to know that I was watching you—but I do promise that I did respect your privacy—and I wanted to get to know you personally—"

"Was that you that night in the tree?"

"Yeah..." Beth admitted, rubbing the back of her own neck.

"And you threw that cat down from the tree like that?"

Beth put her hands up in surrender as she answered, "Look, it swiped at me and that was my first reaction—"

"So _that's_ why he hides when you come around!" Alison blurted, putting her hands on her hips. "You can't just throw animals like- like- I don't know, _footballs!_"

"In my defence he _did_ land on his feet..."

"Elizabeth—I don't know your last name," Alison told her after trying to scold her with a full name. The soccer mom stared at her strangely as if putting forth a test.

"Childs," Beth replied, trying to shoot her a friendly grin. "Elizabeth Childs."

Alison raised her eyebrow and offered a small smile back as if the assassin had just passed the test.

"Alison, please let me finish my story."

"Okay..." Alison sighed. "Continue."

"I wanted to get to know you personally—"

"Why?"

"_I was getting to that_," Beth responded through gritted teeth. "I wanted to get to know you on a personal level because, well, it seemed that I'd fallen for you already just from an observer standpoint."

Alison's eyelids fluttered and settled on a wide open setting as her jaw dropped. She stared at Beth in disbelief as she tried to find a way to reply to the would-be assassin's statement.

"And so that's what I did. And if I'm being extremely honest, I think it only made me fall harder. Well, not think... _Know_." Beth nodded once after she finished speaking as if legitimising her statement. "And that is why I couldn't kill you. I couldn't—_can't_—kill you because I'm in love with you."

Alison remained silent, but she didn't appear to be upset or even frightened as she had earlier.

"Please say something," Beth begged, running a hand through her hair nervously as she watched Alison and waited for a response. Alison only blinked dumbly. Beth began biting her nails as her gaze fell to the counter and she turned to leave.

"_Stop_ biting your nails," Alison ordered, sharper than she'd meant to. When Beth turned back around, she plastered an apologetic smile on her face and added, "Please."

Beth nodded and stopped immediately as she waited for the woman to say more.

"How much time do I have left?" Alison asked quietly.

"As I said before, I don't intend to kill you—"

"You may not, but I'm sure whoever you work for, this Fraternity you speak of, does. So how much time do I have?"

"A little less than a week," Beth replied, her eyes dropping to the ground. She looked up and saw Alison shake her head. "Look... I can try to save you... Protect you... Hide you away... _Something_—"

"No. No you can't. They'll find me. And you. Isn't that how these things go in the movies? And besides... What would I tell my family?"

"You could... fake your death?" Beth suggested weakly, but she knew Alison was right. She tried not to think about Alison's avoidance of the subject of her feelings toward her.

"I can't do that to... my kids."

"What about Donnie?" Beth asked, analysing Alison's reaction. "Could you do that to him?"

"...Maybe."

"Could you do that to me?" Beth asked, trying to meet her eyes. Alison looked up at her and sighed.

"No... I couldn't do that to you... Since we're confessing things, I might as well give one to. Truth is, my little experiment in college—you remember that conversation, right? Of course you do—it wasn't a phase. _I_ _know_ it wasn't. I don't know why I told you that. Perhaps it was so that I could try to push you away from me. I don't know. But I've- I mean, ever since I saw you parked outside in your car like that... Well, I was attracted to you. You had this smile that just... seemed to light everything up. It was infectious. I wanted to ignore those feelings, but they're there..." Alison paused a beat. "So no, I couldn't do that to you."

Beth smiled and looked down before replying, "That wasn't why I asked... I was still planning. I was thinking maybe if you faked your death before my deadline, I wouldn't have to kill you because you'd already be dead. But thanks for the confession, Ali."

The two women looked at each other, both of them surprised at the sudden use of a nickname, especially in such a serious conversation.

"Sorry, that kind of just slipped out—"

"It's fine," Alison assured her. "Ali. I like it."

"Good," Beth smiled again, feeling more relaxed.

Alison leaned in and whispered, "I like you too, in case that wasn't clear."

"Even better," Beth nodded, pleased with Alison's effort. She grew serious. "But please. Let me hide you away."

"Beth, my kids—"

"Them too. Everyone," Beth hesitated before adding the next part using the best poker face she had. "Even Donnie, if that's what you want."

"Screw Donnie," Alison replied, surprising Beth. "He can go watch football alone for the rest of his life. If you can hide my kids and I successfully, then yes, I'll let you take us. But if you think there's any chance of risking my children's lives, please let it play out and have them just come after me and me only. Understand?"

Beth nodded.

"So what'll it be?"

"What it'll always be," Beth responded. "You."

Alison smiled, nervously and gratefully.

"And the kids," Beth added with a grin.

"I'm trusting you—"

"As you should. I'll be by in two days. Get packing and be ready by then."

"Where will you take us?"

"It's a surprise," Beth told her with a wink as she slid off her stool and began walking toward the door. "But I promise it'll be safe."

"Beth," Alison called after her.

"Yeah, Ali?"

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Seriously, don't," Beth told her with a grin. "And if I'm not here in two days, assume I'm dead. But I still would want you to call that number I gave you. It's mine, but if I'm dead, a trustworthy person will have it and he can help you instead."

"And if I have any questions or concerns—"

"You can still call me anytime," Beth finished as she walked out the door. "Bye now."

"Bye," Alison whispered to no one after the door had closed behind the assassin. A part of her told her not to trust this Elizabeth Childs, but that was not the same part of her that worried for her children's safety. If anything, Elizabeth Childs—_Beth_—was really the only chance she had. And while that felt terrifying, it also felt strangely comforting.


	7. Chapter 7: Shit's Been Weird

Art crept into the old abandoned building soundlessly with his hands ready to draw his gun. He went upstairs to the third floor and passed the first two doors until he came upon the third door of the hall. Angela DeAngelis had a thing for threes. He never understood why, but he knew that one day it'd be her downfall. Today was that day the trinity obsession did her in. The door was wide open, but he knew she hadn't set a trap for him. That wasn't her style. So he pulled his gun out of its holster and walked in with his finger on the trigger. Upon entering, he saw DeAngelis sitting in an old wooden chair, facing the window with her back to him.

"Hello, Art," she stated simply and calmly. He knew she hadn't heard him as he hadn't even made a noise. He looked around, but saw nothing amiss. His hands shook. He really didn't want to kill his best friend. The man remained silent, but kept his gun ready to shoot. DeAngelis smiled—Art could hear it in her voice—and said, "I know you're behind me. I know you have a gun. Aldous sent you, didn't he? To kill me, right? Well I have something you might be interested in."

"What is that?" Art asked, deciding to reply but never lowering his gun.

"Do you trust me?" Angela asked, her voice even.

"I don't know, should I?" Art asked, squinting at the back of her head.

"Lower your gun. Let's have a conversation like two normal people," Angela suggested. "For old time's sake."

Art chewed his cheek and squinted some more before reluctantly lowering his gun.

"Just some old swatches I thought you'd want to see," Angela replied, sticking her hands in her pockets. Art cocked the gun and held it up ahain. Angela froze. "I'm just taking them out for you."

Art watched her begin to move again, this time much more slowly. Her hands emerged with several swatches that he could easily recognise as ones that came from the Loom of Fate. She held them out by her sides and dropped them, still never turning to look at him.

"You see these?"

"What the hell are you doing with so many?" Art asked, his finger taut on the trigger and his voice growing louder. "You psycho!"

"Wanna guess whose names are on them?" Angela asked, ignoring Art's insult. She turned around slowly with her hands up in the surrender position. She smiled thinly at him as she kicked one over to him. "Your name."

Art reluctantly took his focus off her to stare at the swatch before him. He pursed his lips and gripped the gun tighter as he brought his eyes back up to hers.

"_Bullshit!_" he spat. Angela kicked another one over to him.

"My name."

Art pressed his lips together as he took his eyes off her once more to look at the newly-passed swatch. He looked back up at her, trying to mask his feeling of being lost.

"Duncan's," Angela continued, kicking another one over. She kicked the rest more. "Fitzsimmons. Bowles. Beraud. Sadler. Dierden. Aldous himself—_his_ name—came up. Everyone from the Fraternity."

"_BULLSHIT!_" Art shouted, shaking the gun at her. "You're _lying!_"

"You can check them yourself, Art. He's been fabricating the Loom's decisions ever since. Trying to protect himself. And I found out. That's why he sent you to kill me."

Art stood there unsure of what to do next. He wanted to trust DeAngelis. Upon talking with her for these few moments, she didn't seem like she'd gone rogue as Aldous had said. His gun lowered slightly as he looked at her face. She wasn't lying. He could tell.

"You're sure?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm sure," she replied slowly. He lowered his gun once again and sighed, rubbing the back of his head with one hand.

"Let's say I believe you... What would be your next move?"

Angela spoke quietly and responded, "Well, I'm thinking we'd need to take Aldous down..."

"I'm thinking I agree with you..."

"So you do believe me," Angela remarked, sounding hopeful. Art rolled his eyes.

"I never said that," he argued, jabbing the gun in her direction. His features softened. "But I know shit's been weird around the Fraternity lately. I'm going off on a whim here, but what would you need me to do?"

"I'd have you bring me back to the Fraternity with you—we need to speak to Duncan. Tell her about everything—warn everyone. We need to get the rest of the team on our side. Otherwise we're as good as dead. You, her, and the noob Childs—the only ones left."

"You know, the others were killed..." Art told her casually. He waited for a response.

"I know," Angela replied with a weary sigh. "I was the one who killed them. I was just following Fate."

"Understandable."

"Take me back," Angela repeated.

"That's not a good idea—you'd be killed on the spot."

Angela sighed and looked at Art directly in the eyes.

"Please. It's the only way."

Art stared at her for a few seconds before sighing too and putting his hands on his hips and looking at the floor. He pressed his lips together upon bringing his eyes back up to meet Angela's.

"Fine. I'll try to think of something, you know, see what I can do."

"That all I'm asking for," Angela told him with a grateful smile.

**. . .**

"Rachel, do you know who my mark is?" Art asked as he rushed to catch up with the blonde. He slowed his pace once he reached her side.

"Yes," Rachel replied, barely looking at him as she spoke. She really didn't feel like dealing with Art or his stupid, seemingly unnecessary questions. "You have DeAngelis. Everybody knows that."

"Yes, well, I met with her earlier," Art confessed, watching Rachel out of the corners of his eyes. She showed no emotion which made him uneasy.

"Did you kill her?" Rachel inquired, raising an eyebrow. She felt that she already knew the answer.

"No, I have her in the trunk of my car," Art admitted with a hushed voice. Rachel stopped walking abruptly and pushed him into a nearby room, closing the door behind them. She turned to face him with wide eyes.

"_What!?_" she hissed. She glowered at him, waiting for a response.

"You heard me," he replied, crossing his arms. "I have her in the trunk of my car. She has some information you might be interested in."

"Are you mad or just plain stupid?" Rachel snapped. "She's playing you. I thought you were smarter than that."

"Maybe. But... Just come down with me. I want backup in case she tries anything and I need someone who can read binary."

"Binary? What's this have to do with—"

"Just trust me."

"Trust _you?_" Rachel scoffed. When Art's pleading expression didn't change, she rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine. But this better be worth my time—I've my own mark to monitor, you know—"

"Oh, I _know_," Art shot back. "You lied to me earlier about not having a mark. Aldous told me. You're after Beth."

"Where is you car?" Rachel asked, changing the subject.

Art lead her downstairs to the outside of the building and straight to his car. He used his keys to unlock the trunk and just as it opened, Angela's head popped up. She squinted into the bright daylight, as her eyes adjusted. She turned her head and focused on Art and Rachel.

"_Rachel_," she stated shortly as she nodded once at the Brit.

"_DeAngelis_," Rachel responded in the same dry tone.

"Tell her what you told me," Art commanded Angela. She looked up at him as if she were irritated before repeating the information to Rachel who listened with hidden interest. As Art watched the blonde's face, he saw her expression go from semi-surprised to a look of realisation.

"What?" he asked.

"Childs' name popped up—that's the only reason why she's a target," she told him as she looked over the swatches Angela had handed her. "And these swatches are legitimate."

Art sighed and turned to Angela saying, "I'm sorry I ever doubted you."

"Now is not the time for apologies," Angela told him. "We need to get to him before he kills any more innocents."

"Agreed," Art nodded.

"What's the plan?" Rachel asked, looking to DeAngelis. Angela looked at Art before she looked at Rachel and opened her mouth to speak.

"We need to take Aldous down."

"What would we do after he's gone? Where would we hide all this?" Rachel asked, bringing up a good point.

Art and Angela went silent as they hadn't thought that far.

"Never mind that. Let's say we take him out," Rachel suggested. "We can walk away scot-free and live free lives—I've always liked the idea of living a life of my own..."

"That'd be nice..." Art agreed. "But is it possible?"

"I've always wanted to be a detective..." Angela stated dreamily. She seemed lost in thought.

"Yeah. A detective," Art repeated slowly as he considered the idea too. He shook the dream from his mind so he could focus on the task at hand. "Where would Aldous be right now? We've stayed with him for this long, we should know him by now."

"He'd be in his office," Angela replied.

"No. He'd be in the Room of Fate—probably making his more of his own targets," Rachel corrected her. Art could tell Rachel's mind was racing. "We're all armed, correct?"

The other two assassins nodded solemnly.

"Good. We'll need one person to go in the front, the other two to sneak around back. If all three of us go marching in, we'll definitely raise suspicion and that's the last thing we want. The other two can come in a few moments after the first. We can take him down then."

"Who'll be the one?" Art asked.

"His favourite. He's bound to trust his favourite the most," DeAngelis replied, looking at Rachel. Art nodded in comprehension. DeAngelis made eye contact with Rachel before saying, "Go."

Rachel walked calmly into the Fraternity so as not to raise any suspicion and made a beeline for Aldous' office. She scanned the building, looking for any sign of the others, but saw none. She sighed and rolled her eyes before opening the double doors leading to his office and turning only to close them behind her. She raised her right hand up which contained a loaded pistol and pointed it at the back of his head. Only when she cocked it was when he became aware of her intentions.

"Aldous," she growled through clenched teeth.

"Rachel, don't tell me you've been corrupted..." Aldous sighed.

"_Corrupted?_ You've been lying to me—to _all_ of us!" she shouted.

"Yes, but for your own good," Aldous replied, turning around fearlessly and looking right at her. He took a slow step forward, concentrating on holding eye contact. "Just think, Rachel. You would be dead. A magnificent, _skilled_ woman like you. _Dead_. All because of what? Some stupid old loom said you should be? What a waste of a perfectly good human life..."

Rachel glared at him over the barrel of the gun.

"You see, Rachel, it's all about _control_," Aldous began, walking toward her calmly. They both knew she wouldn't shoot him. She hadn't intended to shoot him from the moment she walked in. She figured she'd leave it up to the others. She just had to hold him there. "You control who lives _and_ who dies. You're like a god, Rachel. A _god_. Imagine that."

"The others are coming," she told him, hoping to scare him. "They're going to kill you."

"No they won't," Aldous replied with a mysterious smile. "I'm Fate now. I make the rules. Them? They're powerless creatures. Think about it, Rachel. Who really has the upper hand right now? Those imbeciles rushing in with guns or us—the intellectuals, with guns, and information that they _don't_ have? You see, they don't know that I know."

"You've been like a father to me," Rachel quaked. "I trusted you and you _lied_."

"I know and I'm sorry," Aldous apologised. His eyes went to a large bookcase filled with novels before focusing back on her. "But I'm not lying to you right now. We can make it out of here. There's a secret exit. We can escape and start anew. What do you say?"

Rachel didn't answer him, but kept her gun pointed at him.

"It doesn't have to be a new Fraternity either, Rachel. Just think, when we get out of here together, we can do whatever we want. Live free lives. That's what you've always wanted, right?" Aldous asked, trying to make eye contact with the blonde. "I promise you this."

Rachel's eyes darted to the closed doors and back to the man in front of her gun. She pressed her lips together, stuck in a battle with herself, before lowering the gun.

"You have about thirty seconds," Rachel told him forcefully.

"_We_," he corrected her, walking over to her and grabbing her hand. "_We_ have about thirty seconds. You're coming with me, remember? We can do this."

Rachel nodded as he dragged her over to the bookcase he'd been eying earlier and stepped on a switch. She wondered how no one ever knew about this secret exit as she closed the exit behind them.

"Okay, Rachel. From here out, it's a straight line to a bulletproof vehicle I have stashed."

"You knew this day would come?"

"Yes. Well, not really. I always figured it'd be a police raid," Aldous admitted as they navigated their way in the dark. "Still helpful though."

"I like science," Rachel told him suddenly as they approached the end of the passageway.

"Alright then," Aldous replied, allowing her to get into the vehicle first and behind the wheel. "We'll do something in the science field when we get out of here then."

"Promise?"

"I promise," Aldous responded with a seemingly sincere smile. He looked ahead through the windshield. "But as of right now, I need you to just drive."

Rachel nodded and said, "I can do that."

And with that, she stepped on the gas pedal and they sped off in the opposite direction of the Fraternity's building, leaving the unsuspecting assassins inside unaware of their absence.


	8. Chapter 8: We've Been Duped

"Where the hell are they?" Art asked as he and Angela looked around an empty room. He tossed some books to the floor in frustration and looked around the room. He wondered aloud, "How'd they get out so fast? We were a team, where could they possibly have gone?"

"She betrayed us," Angela commented, seeing no sign of them and shaking her head. "We've been duped."

"What the hell do we do now?" Art asked through clenched teeth.

"Well, we're never going to find them. They've made that clear," Angela remarked angrily. Art looked at Angela with fear in his eyes.

"You don't think they went after Beth, do you?"

"Childs? They'd be making it pretty damn easy if they did... No," Angela replied, answering his question. "They wouldn't do that."

"Fuck."

"There's only one thing left we can do," Angela stated. "Just walk away."

"What do you mean just walk away?"

"Think about it, Art. An abandoned building. No one comes in here except us. The original plan is still on. We walk away scot-free and live freely. All we have to do is leave and we can go on to lead normal lives. Knowing Aldous and Rachel, they'll steer clear of us just as we'll steer clear of them. It's foolproof."

"What about Beth?"

"We can tell her the Fraternity has crumbled," Angela decided. Art nodded in agreement. "Tell her that she's free and doesn't owe a thing. I bet she'll like that."

"I bet she will," Art agreed. "Well, it looks like happy endings really do happen in real life. Beth got to keep her mark. She fell for her, you know."

"I'm happy for her," Angela smiled with relief. "That's her first step to living freely."

"And what'll be ours?" Art asked, knowing what the answer would be.

"Police academy—" Angela began.

"And onto being detectives," Art finished for her.

"That's right."

"You think Beth would be up for that?"

"Certainly."

**. . .**

"Hey!" Beth set down her cellphone and enthusiastically greeted Alison with a hug and a kiss as she breezed into the apartment. "I have good news!"

"What is it?" Alison asked, happy to see Beth so cheerful.

"I don't have to hide you away," Beth told her gleefully. "The Fraternity's been disbanded. Art, DeAngelis, and Rachel—three other assassins—worked to take Aldous—our boss—down. We're free to live as we please and I'm going to start by going to be a detective. An actual detective."

"That's great, Beth!" Alison exclaimed, but something in her tone fell flat and Beth eyed her concernedly.

"Is something wrong?" Beth asked.

"No, I'm really happy for you," Alison insisted.

"You don't look happy..." Beth responded almost immediately. She studied Alison's face. "Did you want to hide? You and the kids? Do you still not feel safe?"

"I— I don't know," Alison sighed honestly.

"You guys can still stay with me if you're still that worried about your safety," Beth offered with a genuine grin. She kissed her on the cheek. "We're a thing now, right? I hope I didn't misunderstand our last talk—"

"No, no. You didn't misunderstand," Alison assured her with a small smile.

"Oh good," Beth grinned again and kissed her again, this time on the lips. "By the way, you have no idea how long I wanted to do that."

Alison smiled and made her way deeper into the flat. Beth followed her and kept her eyes on the back of the woman's head.

"I was serious about that offer. If you all want to stay with me, that's fine with me. I can tone it down, if you want. Or if I'm moving too fast, just let me know. I just want you to feel safe and be comfortable," Beth told her. "So are you gonna stay or not?"

"Yes," Alison nodded, finally deciding. "I'll stay. I'll bring the kids and I'll stay here with you."

"At least now you won't have two days to pack," Beth grinned. "That's always good. Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Do you think they'll hate me?" Alison asked. "For just leaving their father like that? Do you think they'll hate you? My Lord, I'm sorry, Beth. No one could ever hate you—"

"Eh, they might. If they think I'm the one who stole you from their dad, they might. I'm prepared for that. I'm prepared for them never speaking to me. But if housing you three and making you feel safe makes you happy, I'll do whatever it takes and endure anything to the point of death."

"I don't know how to break it to Donnie..."

"Well, there are two ways, I guess. You could stone-cold, flat-out just get up and go one day without any explanation or you could leave him a nice heartfelt note or message... I'd go for a message or note if I were you," Beth told her lightly. "If I ever left somebody, that'd be what I'd go for. It's rude to just get up and leave without a word or at least saying goodbye..."

"I don't know if I'm ready for that."

"It's okay. Take your time. That's all we got—time," Beth smiled. Alison relaxed, a rare feeling for her, but somehow Beth always managed to draw it out of her.


	9. Chapter 9: She's Dead

**. . .**

"Ali, I'm home!" Beth half-sighed as she walked in the door.

Months had gone by and Beth and Alison had settled into a nice routine, especially after Beth had fudged a résumé and became a detective after the academy almost instantly. She hadn't told Alison that bit as she figured it wasn't that important and Alison didn't have to know.

Meanwhile, Alison had resorted to telling Donnie that her mother's sick friend wanted to see the children and she didn't know how much time she had left. She'd told him it was that friend that despised him so he wouldn't want to come along and hadn't given him a set date for return. She convinced him she'd gotten ahold of the kids schoolwork and would continue to school them from home or some elaborate lie like that—Beth wasn't sure of the exact story, she only knew Donnie was dumb enough to believe it.

"Work was killer today and it just—"

Beth stopped as she heard a vacuum start up from the upstairs. She smiled to herself, knowing that Alison probably had earbuds in and couldn't hear her with the combination of the vacuum. The woman would dance a little behind the vacuum and mouth the words to whatever show tune played in her ears. The entire sight was adorable. Beth put her keys in "the thing where they always are" as Alison called it and draped her jacket over a chair before making her way upstairs. With Alison's back to her, Beth saw an opportunity to hug her from behind and she did just that. Alison jumped and quickly switched off the vacuum and pulled out an earbud.

Beth rested her head on Alison's shoulder and smiled before kissing it and whispering, "Hey."

"Beth, you scared me to death!" Alison exclaimed, sighing in relief. She turned around to scold Beth. "Don't sneak up on me like that, I thought you were an intruder!"

"Would an intruder do this?" Beth asked, kissing her on the lips and smiling at her. Alison shook her head and Beth bit her lip and smirked. "Although... I would love to intrude on your personal space, if you know what I mean..."

"Can't. It's family movie night, Beth," Alison reminded her with a coy grin. "Third Saturday of the month, remember? But maybe later... If you're up to it."

"Oh, I'll be up to it," Beth promised with a smirk. She looked around and asked, "Where are they anyway? I didn't see them coming in."

"They're at their friends' house," Alison told her simply, gently pulling out of Beth's embrace to wrap the vacuum cord up. "I didn't know if you needed some time alone with me or not. You seemed stressed lately and I wanted to offer you an opportunity—"

"An opportunity? For what?" Beth asked, pulling her back in before she finished winding the cord up and kissing her. "I'm interested..."

"An opportunity to vent," Alison told her with a chastising smile as she pulled away for a second time to finish the last couple feet of cord. She set her hand on the vacuum handle and looked up to Beth. "Do you need one?"

"Not really..." Beth replied, somewhat skirting around a heavy conversation. She led the way out of the room with Alison and the vacuum in tow. "I vent every night at dinner. Granted, the kids probably hate listening to me, but it's venting all the same. And you listen to me."

"True..." Alison agreed, putting the vacuum away in a closet and following Beth to the kitchen. "So how was work today, Beth?"

Beth cringed, but decided to answer honestly, "Shit."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Why?" Alison asked, motioning for her to sit down.

"Chief was crawling up my ass about missing work too much," Beth admitted with a Cheshire smile and refusing to sit down so she could instead help Alison.

"And have you?" Alison asked worriedly.

"Well yeah. To spend time with you all. Being a detective is taxing..." Beth trailed off. "But I do love it."

"As long as you love it," Alison replied. "But please. Don't lose your job. We'll see you when you get home. I'll even extend the kids' bedtime if you want."

"You mean that?" Beth asked.

"Yes," Alison paused. "I do bend, you know.

"Oh, I _know_."

"Beth..." Alison chuckled. "I mean I'm not strict... I'm just particular."

"I know and I love your particularity," Beth told her with a kiss on the cheek. "I think that's the first thing that hooked me."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. And since my opportunity is still open... What do you say we just order pizza later and get down to business now?" Beth asked slyly. Alison smiled and shook her head.

"'_Get down to business?_' You sure do have a way with your words, detective..."

"It's all in the tongue," Beth winked, taking her hand and leading her back up to the bedroom. "Now come on."

**. . .**

"_Childs!_" a man's voice snapped the detective awake from her current state of nodding off. She jumped and sat up straight and set her hands on the keyboard in front of her, attempting to look as if she were being productive.

"Yeah, Lt.?" she replied innocently, keeping her eyes forward rather than daring to look back at him.

"You're not dozin' on the job, are ya?" he asked with his head poked out of his office door.

"No, Sir," she responded with a nod toward her computer screen. She heard his door close behind her and she immediately relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Beth."

Beth turned to see Angela strutting over to her with a smirk on her face.

"Hm? What?" Beth asked, raising her eyebrows and waiting for a response. Angela's smirk only grew as she set a hand on the woman's desk and leaned on it.

"You're not even signed in," she told her before straightening her posture and walking by. Beth scowled and rolled her eyes even though she found that her fellow detective was telling the truth. She could hear Angela's teasing tone add, "Sex that good?"

"Fuck you, I was gettin' there..." Beth mumbled, typing in her password which also happened to be the name of the woman she loved the most in addition to who was currently on her mind.

"Sure you were," Art piped in with a knowing smirk as he came over to drop some files on her desk.

"C'mon, Art. Why you gotta be such a hardass?" Beth asked, sliding the files over to herself and opening them. She looked them over as Art stood over her shoulder. "Cut me some slack here."

"It's your favourite thing about me," Art joked. Beth grew agitated at his close proximity and dropped the papers down on her desk and turned to look up at him.

"You need somethin' from me, dipshit?"

"No," Art raised his hands in mock surrender as he backed away.

"Alright. So we've stumbled upon some people who are, what, doin' science experiments?" Beth asked as she continued rifling through the papers. "The hell does this have to do with—"

"Shhh!" Art snapped. "Keep it down."

"Why?"

Art looked around the room to see if anyone was paying any particular attention to them and nobody was with the exception of Angela.

"These people are doing illegal experiments," Art whispered. "On _humans_."

"Humans? What—"

"_Shhh!_" Art quieted her again, causing her to realise she hadn't lowered her tone at all.

"They should've just asked us if they could use criminals. We're bound to find some worthy of being tested on..." Beth snidely commented. "What importance does this have to us anyway?"

Art picked up a folder and flipped through it to show Beth a blurry picture of a balding man and a blonde woman with a short haircut. The image, though blurry, struck fear down to Beth's very core.

"Is that...?"

"Ang and I think so," Art nodded, closing the file once more. Beth ran a hand through her hair before reaching for a desk drawer and pulling out a pill container. She'd lowered her doses ever since she'd gotten with Alison, but she couldn't help herself when she was at work. Alison wasn't there, only stress and chaos. Art put a hand over hers and said, "You don't need those."

Beth defensively ripped her hand away and replied, "Relax. Just one, Art."

Art held his breath as he watched her unscrew the cap, dump a single capsule into her hand, and bring it to her mouth and swallow it dry. She then screwed the cap back on, threw it back in the drawer and slammed it shut. He pressed his lips together in frustration and sighed.

"I'm workin' on weaning myself off 'em, alright?" Beth told him once she'd caught a glimpse of his facial expression. "Geez."

"Just... Take a closer look at those files. Get back to me on them. One of the conspirators has a meeting with those two today—in an hour, if I'm not mistaken. See if you wanna look into it with us."

"Alright, I'll take a look."

As soon as she saw him turn his back, she turned back around and opened the desk drawer, searching for the container. Once she found it, she opened it once again, dumped a few pills out into her hand and swallowed them, and closed it once she'd finished. She placed it back in the drawer and opened the files to browse over the names, places, and gathered information.

After about a half hour, she closed the files and stood up. She looked around as she went over to Art. He turned around to face her immediately and raised his eyebrows at her.

"Well, what to you think?" he asked.

"I think we need to check this out."

Art looked over her shoulder and she turned to see Angela staring back. He motioned for her to come over and she promptly did so. She looked between Beth and Art.

"She in?" Angela asked, to which Art nodded with his eyes closed.

"And here I thought we were done with this shit..." Beth muttered, walking over to her cubicle to grab her jacket and shaking her head.

"We will be done with this shit. As soon as we bust them," Art countered, standing up to join the women.

"Anyone up for some Chinese?" Angela asked, holding up a piece of paper with the location of the meeting on it. Beth shrugged her jacket on and pulled her hair out of it as Art straightened his out. Angela nodded and said, "Alright, let's go."

**. . .**

"That's her?" Beth asked, gesturing to a Chinese woman seated in the corner booth. Art and Angela nodded, keeping their eyes off the woman. "How long have you guys been monitoring this whole thing?"

"Couple months," Angela admitted. "We weren't going to get you involved since the whole Fraternity raid wasn't your idea and you weren't invested in that, but..."

Angela looked over at Art, who picked up where she left off.

"We figured you might want to be included. So we gave you the files and let you choose," Art finished for her, looking at Angela as he spoke.

"So what's this about illegal human-tested experiments?" Beth asked. Art and Angela's eyes widened as they looked at something over her shoulder and immediately picked up their menus and pretended to have interest in them. Without question, she followed suit and dropped her eyes to the print inside.

"Hello, my name is Stephanie and I'm going to be your server today," she heard a woman's voice say. Beth subtly looked up at Art and saw him roll his eyes in anticipation of the whole typical waitress speech. She heard Angela sigh off to the right.

"May I offer you anything to drink besides water?" the blonde asked as she poured them some ice water. "Or are you all set to order? Fountain drinks are bottomless and will be refilled free of charge. Just as a reminder, our soup of the day is our Hot and Sour Soup."

"No, thank you—" Art began.

"We're still looking," Angela hastily added, throwing the woman a smile. Beth rolled her eyes at the two of them and studied her menu closer in hopes of avoiding talking to the waitress.

"And you, Hon?" she asked, her eyebrows and pen raised in expectancy. Beth hesitantly looked up, knowing she was being addressed and shook her head sheepishly.

"No, no thank you," Beth told her politely, forcing the same cheesy smile Angela had worn only moments ago. "I'm not ready yet."

"Alright then," Stephanie smiled, closing the pad and clicking the pen shut. "I'll give you guys some time."

Beth watched her walk away and the three of them simultaneously relaxed and set their menus down. Beth heard Angela begin to laugh.

"Damn that is some scary cyborg shit right there," Angela remarked, shaking her head and smiling.

"Can you tell what she says is scripted?" Art piped in. He looked at Beth and batted his eyelashes. "And you, _Hon?_"

"Shut up..." Beth shook her head. "She's just trying to make a living."

Art and Angela both shot her the same look and she cleared her throat, ignoring them.

"So what's this about illegal human-tested experiments?" she asked again, looking over at the middle-aged Chinese woman.

"We're not sure, we only know they're being done," Art admitted. He looked at Angela who leaned in.

"But we do know they're being done on a range of people," Angela added, her eyes watching some customers come in. She looked like she wanted to say more, but kept quiet as the customers passed by.

"That's them. There they are," Art cut in as Beth felt a slight breeze behind her from the people walking by. Her eyes went up to the back of the two people's heads, one balding and one blonde.

Aldous and Rachel, Beth thought. They hadn't noticed the three of them sitting in the opposite corner of the restaurant. She held her breath as she watched them make their way over to the Chinese woman, Margaret Chen. The three of them started conversing immediately, but were cut short as Margaret crossed her arms and seemed to begin ignoring them.

"They test on adults, both old and young. Teenagers. Preteens—" Angela started. Beth witnessed Margaret hold up an index finger to Rachel and Aldous as she scooted toward the edge of the booth.

"Children, toddlers, _newborns_—" Art interjected. Margaret stood up forcefully, as if she were angry, and began walking up the aisle.

"And even those still in the fetal stages of life," Angela finished. "Any unsuspecting people."

A silence settled between the three detectives as their minds went to different places. Art's wandered to the possible conversation that the three scientists or whatever they were were having. Angela's went to how this whole operation would probably prove to be a flop—she could see that the arrangement didn't seem out of the ordinary.

"Well. I'm going to go to the bathroom," Angela announced to them as she got up to leave.

Beth's mind went to Oscar and Gemma, two children who fit the profile of the test subjects—young and unsuspecting—and before she knew what she was doing, she drew her gun, pointed it at the Chinese woman, who was approaching their booth quickly, and fired. The bullet lodged itself square in the woman's forehead, killing her instantly. The woman dropped to the ground and Beth's eyes went to Rachel and Aldous who'd looked up to see the source of the noise. Others in the restaurant began to flee and chaos broke out among the crowd. People pushed past Beth, leapt over the dead woman and fought their way out the door.

"What the hell did you just do?" Art asked, jumping up and rushing over to Beth, who stood frozen in place. Angela, just emerging from the ladies' room, immediately went over to the body, did an unnecessary pulse check and looked up at the two other detectives.

"She's dead," Angela reported and stood up with a sigh. She put her hands on her hips and looked at Beth. "And you shot her execution style. What the hell were you thinking, Beth? This was an unplanned stakeout, not an assassination!"

Beth remained speechless, but dropped the gun to the floor. Her eyes went back up as she saw movement; Rachel and Aldous were calmly getting up and leaving the restaurant along with the few stragglers left behind. They'd seen her. They'd definitely seen her. Beth snapped out of her daze to the sound of plastic gloves slapping against skin and she blankly watched Art put a pair of blue ones on.

"I told you she couldn't handle it!" Angela snapped at Art.

"Angela!" Art shouted before lowering his tone. "Now's not the time. We need to fix this shit—_fast_."

He knelt down and reached inside the dead woman's pocket and found a cellphone. He turned it so that it was facing up and placed it carefully in her limp hand before wrapping her fingers around it to make it look as if she were about to dial a number.

"What the hell will that do?" Angela hissed, squatting next to him and staring at the phone. She looked at him questioningly.

"Give Beth a chance," Art replied, standing up. Angela shook her head, stood up too, and looked over at Beth who was staring numbly at the body.

"You two can save your own asses," she responded, raising her hands in surrender as she backed away. "I was never here."

"You're bailing on us?" Art asked incredulously. "Unbelievable."

"Yeah, I'm bailing on you two," Angela answered, not appearing to be fazed by her choice. "Didn't see anything. Wasn't even here. What're you gonna do about it?"

Art knew she was right. They couldn't necessarily place her there nor could they afford to make things more difficult than they already were. He would have to let her go and Angela knew that.

"That's what I thought," Angela added triumphantly. "I'm sorry, guys. But this shit is too deep and I'm not about to risk my career for this."

Before either of them could say anything, Angela slipped away and left them with the body and the growing pool of blood. Art removed his gloves and stuffed them into his pocket before taking Beth's hands.

"Beth, we need to get our story straight, okay?" he said to her, hoping her eyes would begin to look more alive again. Uneasily he forced a smile and said, "This is the part where you come out with one of your witty remarks about how nothing about you can ever be straight."

Her eyes remained perfunctory and her face grave.

"Beth, I need you to come back to me. Now's not the time to freeze up," Art stated solemnly. Beth nodded stiffly and Art didn't think she'd returned, but he still had to talk to her and tell her the plan.

"Alright. We're working on another case, remember? The Ramsay thing."

"The Sun Jewelry Heist," Beth replied robotically, her eyes still blank. Art wasn't sure how much of what he was saying was actually going in, but he still had to keep trying.

"Right. With Xan Yip," Art nodded, hoping the plan would formulate and make sense in Beth's head before the cops came. "The racketeer. You with me so far?"

No response.

"You're gonna think you saw Yip. It was Chen, but you swear it was Yip. You even called for her, but she got up and started walking away from you... Evading arrest. You went after her with your gun and when she turned around she was holding that," Art told her, pointing to the cellphone in Margaret's hand. "I didn't put that there, she was _holding_ it. Understand?"

Still no response.

"And you thought that was a gun. That's what you saw. You saw a _gun_. You didn't see a cellphone. You saw a gun and so you shot her to defend yourself and for the safety of the public. Did you get all that?" he asked, hoping she'd finally react. He saw a cop come in out of the corner of his eye and began to panic. He addressed her again forcefully, "_Beth?_"

"Detective, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me," the officer told Beth. "We need to get your story—standard procedure."

"Of course, officer..." Beth responded quietly, still emotionless as she walked out with him. Art crossed his fingers and hoped she'd pull through it and give the story he'd just fed her.

"Detective Childs, mind telling me what happened here?" the man asked her once they were outside. He had a pad and pen ready. Her mind flashed to Stephanie's hands holding her orders book and pen moments before the shooting. "Detective—"

"Xan Yip," Beth replied, suddenly springing to life. "I saw her. She's a suspect in a case I'm currently on. The Ramsay thing. She's a middle-aged Asian woman just like the vic and I was just out on a lunch break and I saw her clear as day."

Beth paused to allow the officer to write down everything she'd said so far.

"Black shirt and jeans—same clothes as the victim," Beth reiterated the resemblance. "I _know_ I saw Yip. She was sitting only a few tables away—"

"I'm gonna need the exact location of everyone involved—"

"Right, right—I'll get to that," Beth promised hurriedly. "And I called out to her. I said, 'Xan Yip!' and then she just sprung up and began walking away."

Another pause. Beth listened to the sound of the pen scratching across the paper and her mind went to the background noise of the restaurant. Another waitress had been taking someone else's order. Her pen scratched along the paper too.

"Continue, Detective."

"She was evading arrest, officer," Beth told him with false confidence. "She picked up speed and I drew my weapon. Told her to freeze, but she didn't. Two others were coming in and they bumped into me and when I turned around... I saw her holding a gun."

"A gun—"

"A gun," Beth nodded. "And so I shot her. I shot her to defend myself and for the safety of everyone else in the restaurant... I didn't want any civilian casualties. Only it wasn't a gun, you see... It was a cellphone. A god. Damn. _Cellphone_."

"So this was all just a misperception," he clarified. Beth nodded. "Thank you, detective. You'll of course need to write an official statement, but this was what we needed; a summary, you understand."

Beth nodded once more.

"Of course, Officer..." she paused and looked at his name tag. Once she read it, she smiled as she said his name. "_Holden_."

He nodded once and smiled back, though she couldn't tell if it was polite or nervousness. As soon as he left she rushed back to the crime scene to join Art.

"Beth?" he addressed her as she walked in. She took a few long strides and stood by his side.

"Yeah, dipshit. It's me."

"Beth, how'd it go? You look great."

"Keep it in your pants," she joked, trying to hide her derailed core. She avoided making eye contact and instead crossed her arms and stared at the body which was being inspected by the medical examiner. Art stared at her for a few seconds, but decided not to comment on anything. She looked at him, without looking at his eyes, and stated, "I gotta make a phone call."

She walked away and went back outside to breathe a bit. It didn't help as she leaned against the building for support, doubled over, and vomited on the sidewalk.

"Ah, shit..." she muttered, shaking her head and breathing in deeply. She heard footsteps behind her and she froze.

"Beth, are you alright?" Art asked. She relaxed and stood straight up. "Beth?"

"I'm. Fine," she told him with annoyance.

"Really? 'Cause you don't look fine..."

"Yeah..." she sighed. She swallowed hard and forced herself to look into his concerned eyes. She plastered a fake smile on her face for good measure and nodded. "I just... I need to go home."

"That's not gonna look good. Especially not after—"

"I don't _care_—if it looks _good_, Art!" she snapped harshly, moving both of her hands sharply as she spoke. She tucked her hair behind her ear and crossed her arms as she took a deep breath and softened her tone. "I just need to go home, okay?"

"Beth—"

"I'm _sick_, Art. I'm sick," Beth murmured. "I- I need to go home and rest. I don't feel good. Just... _Please_..."

Art nodded without saying a word and gestured to the open road ahead.

"Go on," he told her. She thanked him and began walking to the cruiser.

"I'll send DeAngelis to come get you," she offered. He shook his head.

"I'll get a ride with one of the cops," he replied. Beth scrunched her face up in disdain. He fixed it by adding, "Or I'll just call DeAngelis myself."

Beth continued walking to the cruiser and didn't stop until she was locked safely inside. She picked up her cellphone and went to call Alison and hesitated. Should she really do that? Should she call Alison and bother her? Beth stared at the little screen in front of her. Suddenly, her phone jumped to life and began ringing in vibrating, which spooked her and resulted in it being tossed to the ground on the passenger's side. She looked around as if anyone had been around to see that and she smacked herself on the forehead and grudgingly muttered to herself for being so jumpy. She bent down and picked the phone back up and looked at the screen to see who was calling.

**Ali**

Beth sighed and thought about her impeccable timing before answering with the cheeriest tone she could muster at that time.

"Hey, baby!" she exclaimed forcefully into the phone. She wore yet another insincere smile and shook her head at her own corny façade.

"Hi, Beth," Alison replied. "I called to ask how your day is going. Is everything all right?"

Beth balked and tried to analyse Alison's tone. For some reason, she couldn't read it and her guilt was devouring her. Did Alison know something about the shooting that'd happened just recently? How would she know anything about that already?

_No_, Beth told herself. _There's no way she could know._

"Beth?"

_But she never calls out of the blue like this unless it's an emergency. You know that, Beth. Her routine—you know her better than that._

"Beth, are you still there?" Alison's voice grew worried and Beth shook her head to clear her mind.

"Yeah," she answered. "Yeah I'm still here."

"Can you hear me okay?" Alison asked, her voice more relaxed now.

"Yes... I can hear you just fine," Beth replied, keeping her own tone mysterious. "My day's been... Eventful."

Beth chose that word carefully, not wanting to raise any alarm with Alison, but not wanting to lie to her either. She could almost feel Alison relax and the image calmed her down a bit.

"Eventful, huh?" Alison repeated. Beth grew more and more uncomfortable the longer the silence between her and Alison lasted. She opened her mouth to speak and fill the gap, but stopped once she realised Alison had decided to speak again in that same strange tone. "Can't wait to hear about it."

Beth didn't reply, for her fear stabbed at her once again. Had someone called Alison and told her what happened and was she trying to get it out of Beth?

_No. Someone would've had to break code and release information before they should be_, Beth reasoned with herself. _You're just being paranoid._

"Honey, are you sure you're okay?" Alison asked once again. Beth nodded even though she knew the woman couldn't see her.

"Yes, Ali. I'm sure," Beth answered.

"Beth, I need to know—are you on the pills again?"

"You knew about those, huh?" Beth asked, ashamed that she'd thought she'd been hiding something from Alison or that she'd even tried. She heard a heavy sigh on the other end.

"Let's see, a few empty containers in the trash... One left in your pants' pocket... Yeah. I knew about them," Alison told her. She took a deep breath before repeating her question. "Beth, I really need to know... Are you on the pills again?"

"No, baby, I'm completely off them," Beth lied. She felt a pang of guilt as soon as the words left her mouth and she just had to say something else in hopes of finding relief. "I love you."

"I love you too, Beth," Alison's tone brightened as she spoke. It felt good to hear her say those words, but she found no such relief. "Hey, one more thing?"

"Yeah?"

"Blow me a kiss?" Alison requested. Beth squinted off into the distance, wondering why Alison had asked her to do something like that.

"Over the phone? Ali, c'mon... You're not serious..."

"Please, Beth?"

"No, no. I can't. That's weird," Beth replied, shaking her head with a small smile. "I'll see you when I get home, alright?"

"Okay..." Alison reluctantly answered. "I still love you, though. Even though you won't kiss me."

"Ali, I'll _kiss_ you... Just in person, alright? Not through the phone. That way I can feel your lips on mine. Sound good?"

"Sounds great," Alison agreed. "Bye, Beth."

"Bye, Ali."

Beth hung up and stared at the phone. She hadn't even told Alison that she was coming home early. She shrugged and started the engine and the drive to the station.

**. . .**

"Beth? What're you doing home so early?" Alison asked, glancing at the clock as soon as Beth walked in. She rushed over to her and waited for an answer. Without replying, Beth pulled her closer and kissed her slowly and passionately on the lips multiple times. While she kissed her, she shrugged off her jacket and let it drop to the ground before she reached for Alison's ass. Alison slid Beth's hands off and gently pulled away as she breathlessly remarked, "What's gotten into you? Why're you being so affectionate today? Not that I mind..."

"I said I'd kiss you in person," Beth reminded her with a quick peck on the lips and a grin. "I'm just keeping a promise."

"You—" Alison paused and allowed Beth's lips to find hers again. "You never answered my first question."

Beth sighed and replied, "I took half a sick day or whatever you call it."

Beth reached for Alison again and the woman allowed herself to be pulled in by the detective. The cop embraced her tightly, pressing their bodies together. Alison distractedly played with Beth's silky brown hair before gazing into her loving eyes questioningly.

"Why? Beth, you said you'd stop missing so much work. This doesn't count as—"

Beth silenced her with another tender kiss.

"I know. I genuinely felt sick," Beth confessed, sliding her hands back down to Alison's ass and giving it a small squeeze. "Mm, but I'm feeling _so_ much better now..."

She went for another kiss, but Alison dodged it and Beth could see the concern in her light brown eyes.

"You felt sick?" Alison asked worriedly, putting the back of her hand up to Beth's forehead to check for a fever. After a few seconds she commented, "You don't feel hot..."

"That's 'cause you're checkin' all the wrong places, babe..." Beth joked. She moved so that her lips were inches away from Alison's ear and whispered, "Might wanna check a bit lower—or would you like me to check you first?"

Beth slipped her hand down Alison's pants and kissed her softly on the neck. Alison gasped and dug her nails into Beth's clothed back and gripped her hair as the woman teased her and left kisses along her jawline. The detective savoured the sound of her lover's breath hitch and become laboured, which only drove her to please Alison more.

Alison swallowed hard and exhaled before breathily asking, "Are you going to tell me what happened today?"

Beth listened to Alison's heavy breathing, each respiration just short of a whimper. Alison moaned as she slipped a finger inside her folds and Beth felt the heat and wetness encasing her finger as she carefully took the woman's hair down from her ponytail. She raised some of Alison's hair to her nose and smelled it.

"Nothing too serious happened today," Beth told her softly and absentmindedly, more focused on keeping a steady rhythm with her finger rather than talking. "I promise."

She drew out another groan, louder this time, from Alison as she added a second finger and muffled it with a deep kiss, allowing the noise to pass from Alison's lips and past hers, swallowing its bliss.

"Oh _really..._" Alison replied, her voice husky with arousal.

"Yeah..." Beth whispered, kissing Alison back on the lips. "Really."

"Okay, then. Why did... _Detective Bell_ call me today?" Alison asked, removing Beth's hand from her pants and looking at her seriously. Beth closed her eyes and sighed through her nose guiltily.

"What'd he say?" Beth asked, daring to look at her girlfriend. Alison glared irritatedly at her and put her hands on her hips.

"No. No. You're not getting an answer until you answer _my_ question. Why did he call me today?" Alison demanded to know. Beth rolled her eyes and began walking away. "Elizabeth Childs, you get back here this instant and tell me why he called!"

"_I don't_ _fuckin' know!_ Okay, Alison? I _don't_ fucking know!" Beth replied sharply, turning to face her and throwing her arms up. She raised her voice and continued with a nasty tone. "Maybe I could help you out with that if you answered _my_ fucking question and told me what he said! Did ya ever think of that? Hm? Don't be _stupid!_"

"Don't you talk to me like that!" Alison commanded, scowling at the cop. Beth threw her hands up again, muttered something, and spun on her heel to continue walking away. Alison rolled her eyes and decided to leave Beth be. She knew from the moment she'd called her earlier that something wasn't right. She just had to wait for Beth to come to her.


	10. Chapter 10: Lies, Lies, Lies

**. . .**

The cop tipped the container into the palm of her hand, allowing a few of the capsules from inside to roll out. She brought them to her mouth and swallowed them, each one individually, as she screwed the cap back on. Alison's grudge lasted two days so far and she would be coming home from wherever she'd driven the kids to—Beth didn't remember—any second. Suddenly, Oscar and Gemma burst through the door with huge grins on their faces.

"Hi, Beth!" they greeted her in unison as they ran over to her. They took turns hugging her and she hugged them back, careful not to rattle the pills.

"Hey, kids," she replied with a smile. She discreetly tucked the container in her back pocket as she spoke. "Where's your mom?"

"We beat her from the van to the house," Gemma told her matter-of-factly with a triumphant smile. Oscar rolled his eyes at his younger sister's immature misinterpretation of the situation.

"She had to get our soccer stuff from the back," he explained. Beth nodded and squatted to talk to them.

"And how is she?"

"She's still mad," Gemma answered with that brutal honesty one gets from a young child. Beth looked down for a second, then back up.

"How mad?" she asked.

"_Hella_," Oscar replied, watching Beth as if he were testing her. She stood up straight and put her hands on her hips as she looked down at him.

"Now, Oscar, I don't think your mother would like you saying that word—" she began to scold him.

"_You_ taught me that!" he objected. Beth shrugged culpably.

"Fair enough, but—"

"I'm telling Mommy you said a bad word!" Gemma told him. He scowled at her, then looked to Beth for help. Beth sighed and looked at the little girl.

"No, you're not going to sell your brother out to Alison. That's not very nice. People don't like snitches—"

"_You_ said you liked snitches," Gemma pointed out. Beth squinted at her with a baffled look.

"I did?" the detective asked. "When?"

"Yeah," Oscar agreed. "One day you came home and said some guy snitched on his partner in the confession room. You said it made your job easier."

"Okay. I may have said those things," Beth admitted to them. "But they only apply to my job. Nobody else in the world likes snitches, not even your own mother. Understand?"

The children nodded and listened intently.

"So _you_, Gemma, are not going to snitch on your brother—"

"Yeah!" Oscar piped in. He shut up immediately when Beth threw him a chastising look.

"And _you_, Oscar, are not going to say bad words no matter where you hear them," Beth finished. "We all clear?"

The children nodded again before jubilantly bolting off to their rooms upstairs. Beth put her hands on her hips and praised herself for how well her little lecture went just as Alison walked through the door carrying a bulky load of various soccer equipment. Beth waited until the woman got her shoes off before offering to help.

"Can I help you carry any of that?" she asked, keeping her voice sweet.

"I don't know, _can_ you?" she asked, glaring at her and pushing past her. Beth followed her into the hallway like a lost puppy.

"Okay... _May_ I help—"

"Just leave me alone, Beth," Alison muttered, freezing Beth in place in the hall as she herself went upstairs. Within moments, Alison came back down and Beth moved out of her way in order to let her by and avoid being pushed again before following her out back to the kitchen. She knew Alison would be starting dinner and so she watched silently from the doorway.

"Are you going to just stand there and stare at me dumbly or are you going to help me?" Alison snapped as she stormed around the kitchen. Beth's features pulled into a bewildered look.

"I—" she began. "You just said you wanted me to leave you alone..."

Despite her confusion, Beth immediately stepped in and began counting out plates. She snuck a glance at Alison and smiled to herself despite the woman's sour face.

"Remember when you first moved in with me?" Beth asked, hoping to loosen Alison up. Alison ignored her and continued doing other things. "You told me I had no semblance of order..."

Still no response.

"...and I had to ask you what the hell '_semblance_' meant?" Beth forced a shy chuckle. She had to try something else as she could see that Alison wasn't budging. "Or... the first time we slept together?"

Alison's eyes were daggers as she moved to the table instead and Beth chewed the inside of her lip.

"I don't mean—" Beth lowered her tone in case the children could hear her. "Had sex. Although that was... that was pretty damn _good_, I mean... Anyway, no, I mean sleep. Your toes were so cold... Still are sometimes. And you wanted me to cuddle you for warmth. Even then I—"

"Be quiet, please," Alison replied. Beth shut up and the two worked in silence. Beth moved over to the table, behind Alison, to set the plates down in front of each chair. Alison ducked under the cop's arm to get out and that's when she saw it.

"What is that?" Alison asked, pointing to Beth's butt.

Beth smirked and began a quip saying, "Well, _Ali_, that's my a—"

"What the dickens is _this_, Beth!?" Alison hissed, cutting her off and slipping the pill container out of her back pocket with force. The pills inside rattled as the bottle moved with her hand as she spoke. "Are you effing _kidding_ me?"

"Ali," Beth's voice caught in her throat, mainly because she was surprised at Alison's close proximity to the f word. "You're blowing this way out of proportion—"

"_Blowing this way out of proportion!_" Alison echoed angrily. "Are you on these? Hold on, are you amped right now? In front of my children?"

"'_Amped?_' What the hell are you talking about—"

"Don't you swear at me, Beth!" Alison snapped, shaking her head as she left the room to go hide the pills somewhere upstairs. "You can ask me for _one_ when you actually _need_ one."

Beth rolled her eyes and stayed in the kitchen. She didn't tell Alison that there was no point in hiding them; one, because she knew exactly where she would hide them and two, because she had other containers stashed in various places including her desk at work. She began to formulate an apology in her mind as she waited for the woman to come back. The cop waited for five minutes, but still Alison didn't show so she went upstairs to find her.

The detective heard sobs emanating from their cracked open bedroom door. She knew instantly that the cries belonged to Alison and she gently pushed the door open to find her sitting hunched over on Beth's side of the bed. The cop felt a twinge of guilt in her heart as she went and sat next to the woman. She tried laying a comforting hand on her back, but Alison flinched and whacked it away.

"_Don't_ touch me," Alison spat without even looking at her. Beth hung her head and stayed in her own personal space bubble and left Alison alone in her own.

"I'm sorry, Ali..." Beth apologised, though she didn't know if she actually meant it. Questioning her own sincerity made the guilt worse and she suddenly felt afraid.

"No. You're not," Alison whispered, refusing to look at her. Beth dropped to her knees, not knowing what else to do, and grabbed Alison's hands.

"I am!" Beth insisted, squeezing Alison's hands gently and trying to coax her into making eye contact. "You have to believe me."

"I _have_ to believe _you?_" Alison raised her eyebrows in disbelief before scowling at the cop. "Beth, you said you were off those!"

"Ali, I said I was working on _weaning myself off_ them—"

"No. You said you were off them," Alison corrected her, knowing she'd caught her in a lie. "_Completely_."

Beth paused and thought a moment. Had she really lied to Alison? If she told Alison she was completely off them, who did she say the other thing to?

_Art, dumbass_, her brain reminded her. _Just the other day._

Beth shook her head, realising that she had indeed lied to the suburban woman. She never used to lie to her, yet here she was caught in a huge lie.

"I'm fucked up. Okay, Ali?" Beth looked up at her desperately. "I know and I'm _sorry_. And I- I fucked up at work."

"How?" Alison asked, her eyes conveying fear and concern. Beth felt a stab of pain in her chest in response to seeing Alison look at her like that.

"Well, I... I shot a woman," Beth admitted.

"You what?" Alison didn't believe she'd heard the cop correctly.

"I shot a woman. I was on a lunch break with Art and Angela and well, Art told me that I saw a suspect from a case I'm on and I shot her because she'd had a gun, only it wasn't actually her... It was an innocent civilian. And it wasn't a gun... It was a cellphone," Beth confessed, choosing her wording carefully.

"Beth..." Alison paused, not knowing what to say. "I didn't know it was that bad... I knew something was up that day, I just didn't think... I'm so sorry."

"Nah, I was being an ass too though," Beth admitted with an apologetic shrug.

"I know," Alison responded and Beth ignored the small dig she made. "Injuring someone, especially an innocent is a difficult thing to deal with, especially if it was an accident."

_Right... An 'accident'..._

"Yeah you'd know, wouldn't you?" Beth joked softly in reference to Alison's golf club incident and hoping to get a smile out of her. Alison smiled and shook her head.

"You got me," Alison admitted scoldingly. Beth smiled up at her and kissed her on the knee.

"So do you love me again?" Beth asked, insecurity leaking out her eyes. Alison's heart practically stopped at this vulnerability in the cop's eyes.

"Beth, I never stopped loving you," Alison assured her. "I was just angry. Being angry at someone doesn't mean you stop loving that person..."

"That's good for my sake," Beth forced a laugh and masked her lack of confidence once again.

"One more thing."

"Anything."

"Have you taken any recently?" the soccer mom asked. She knew it was a dumb question, but she wanted Beth to answer her honestly. Beth nodded right in front of her. "Are you now or have ever been under the influence in front of my kids?"

Beth sighed, kissed Alison's hand, and looked up at her before looking her straight in the eyes and answering, "No."

_Lie #2_, her brain tallied. _Technically lie #3 if you count the other day when you told her nothing too serious happened at work..._

The sound of the capsules rattling snapped beth from her thoughts as Alison held them up to her as she asked, "Can I trust you with these?"

Beth took a deep breath, smiled, and shook her head before answering in a lighthearted tone, "No, you can't."

"I'm going to trust you with them anyway," Alison told her, placing the container in her hand. She seemed confident that Beth would do the right thing. "Okay?"

Before Beth could reply, Alison wiped her eyes and left the room to go back to prepping for the meal. Beth pressed her lips together and looked down at the little container in her hand.

"Please don't," Beth whispered once she was sure Alison was out of earshot. She exhaled slowly before reluctantly following Alison's path down to the kitchen. She crossed the room, made sure the woman was watching her and threw the pill bottle in the trash before looking at Alison for approval. "I'm all done."

"I'm very proud of you, Beth," Alison told her with a satisfied tone. Those words coming from Alison should've made the cop feel better, but they didn't. Instead she began feeling sick again, just as she had the other day.

_Everything is just lies, lies, lies with you! _Beth thought.

"Beth, you're not looking too well..."

"I'm fine," Beth told her, managing a smile. "I think I just... I'm gonna go lie down for a bit. Sleep a while, you know?"

"Okay..." Alison reluctantly replied with a nod. She let Beth go and as soon as the cop disappeared from sight, she opened the trash and checked for the pill bottle just in case. It was still there.


	11. Chapter 11: Fate Knows

_Beth stepped out of the cruiser and tightened her jacket around herself as a frigid gust of wind blew. It was foggy and so early in the morning that the sun hadn't come up yet and she could barely see a thing. She felt a presence behind her and she turned, but no one was there. She shivered and continued along the side of the road. She wasn't sure where she was supposed to be going, she only knew that she'd know when she got there. She felt something whizz by and again she stopped to look around. No one. Just as she turned back around, she came face to face with Rachel and jumped._

_"Hello, Elizabeth," Rachel greeted her coolly. She wore a fancy dress and gloves to match. Beth peered at her, wondering how she wasn't cold with those thin nylons and heels._

_"Get out of my way," she huffed, pushing past the blonde. Rachel quickly caught up with her and blocked her path._

_"A fine day, isn't it?" she remarked with a smug smile. Beth looked around at the dark sky and gave Rachel a look of annoyance._

_"Really?" Beth asked flatly._

_"Aldous gave me a message for you," she informed Beth. She pulled out a pistol, cocked it, and pointed it at her. "He says Fate knows."_

_A loud noise, then—_

_**Blackness.**_


	12. Chapter 12: I'm Afraid of Losing You

**. . .**

"Beth!" Art called as he walked over to the brunette. The woman turned around to face him.

"Yeah?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, stopping only inches away from her. "You've been suspended until further notice."

"I have? Oh, uh, yeah. I know. I just _really_ needed to talk to you," Beth lied, scratching her head and subtly leading him to her desk. He looked around before following her cautiously.

"Alright. What is it?"

"Mm..." Beth stalled as she searched her desk for something, starting with all the drawers on the left side. "I... was wondering about something."

"And what is that?"

"Um..." Beth slammed all the drawers shut and started rifling through the top middle one instead. "A thing."

"A thing. Great," Art rolled his eyes and out his hands on his hips. "Try being more specific, Beth."

"Ah! Shit!" she exclaimed frustratedly after receiving a paper cut. She gave up on the drawer and moved to the ones on the right. "A thing... Um... Like, how's your conscience?"

"My conscience?" Art hissed, angry at Beth for bringing up the shooting. "_What?_"

"I don't mean about the Yip thing. I did what I did," Beth quickly told him, sticking her arm into a drawer. "I mean from way back before we were even detectives..."

"Assassins?" he whispered. Beth nodded and withdrew her arm from the drawer, empty handed. "Why?"

"It's really getting to me lately," Beth confessed, opening the last drawer and rummaging around. "Like, I don't know... Are we really supposed to be here?"

"Beth, what are you on?"

"Shhh! Keep your voice down!" she hissed. "I mean that Fate wanted us dead for a reason. Why do you think that is? I mean, why hasn't Fate killed us yet?"

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe Aldous' name was the only one that came up and he fabricated all of ours in anticipation of the day we found out? Then he could play the same card against us," Art reasoned with her. He watched her stop rummaging and close the drawer. "And what the hell are you even looking for? This?"

He placed a pill container on the desk in front of her. She looked up at him silently. He raised an eyebrow to let her know he expected an answer.

"Yeah," she admitted shamefully, taking it in her hand and pocketing it. "But it's not what it looks like. I was gonna throw it out—"

"Childs!" the lieutenant called as he walked by seemingly out of nowhere. "What're you doing here?"

"Just saying hello," she lied, throwing him an innocent smile. He stared at her suspiciously, but continued on his way.

"Make it quick," he commanded. Beth nodded before turning to Art.

"Thanks for clearing that up for me," she told him. "Really."

"No problem. We can't have you leaving Alison now, can we?" he smirked. Beth shook her head with a huge grin.

"No we cannot," she agreed.

**. . .**

Beth got to her car and once she felt safe inside, she popped the container open and held it upside down above her left hand. She shook it and nothing came out even though she knew it hadn't been empty the last time she touched it.

"Frickin' Art..." she murmured, shaking her head as she figured it out. "Pain in the ass, but a good man."

She dropped it into the side pocket of her door with a sense of relief and gratitude rather than annoyance or anger. He'd helped her this time and that was all that mattered. Her brain wandered to the dream she'd had a few nights ago and the reasons Art gave her for them all still being alive. It made sense. She owed him more than he knew. Or maybe he did know. Maybe that was why he was such a hardass.

Beth's phone interrupted her thought process and she dug into her pocket to retrieve it and answered it after seeing Alison's name on the screen.

"Hey, Ali. Did ya need somethin'?" she asked as she started the car.

"No, I was wondering where you were," Alison answered. "I woke up and you weren't there. I got kind of worried..."

"Oh shit. I'm sorry, Ali... I went to the station," Beth told her, pulling out of the parking lot.

"The station? Why?" Alison asked. Beth could hear forks scraping against plates in the background and figured the kids were up. "You're on suspension..."

"Yeah, I know. I just had to get something."

"Beth..."

"Information from Art, that's all. To be honest, we think Aldous and Rachel are up to something. You know, they were the others from the Fraternity," Beth told her.

"And you think you can bust them?" Alison asked.

"Maybe," Beth replied. "Look, I'm driving right now and it won't look good if I, being a suspended detective, get pulled over for talking on a cellphone."

"Okay, okay. Good point. But one thing before you go?" Alison asked. Beth rolled her eyes, knowing what request was probably coming as it'd became a habit of Alison's whenever she called.

"_Yes_, Alison?"

"A kiss?"

"Alison, I'll kiss ya when I get home," Beth promised, shaking her head with a smile. "Good and hard."

"Okay..." Alison responded, seemingly pleased with the answer. "Love you."

"Love you too," Beth replied.

**. . .**

"Ali," Beth called into the apartment. She heard footsteps and soon after, Alison appeared in the doorway opposite. Beth smiled and held her arms out to her, welcoming her in them as she approached. "Hey, babe."

"Beth," Alison responded, looking at her lips. The lingering gaze conveyed her desire and Beth picked up on it immediately. "And where is that kiss you promised me?"

"Anywhere you want it," Beth quipped, leaning in and tenderly pressing her lips against Alison's, then on the woman's neck. "How about there?"

Beth moved to Alison's collarbone and planted another kiss on it and Alison's head tilted back in response.

"Or there?"

She dragged her lips over the centre of Alison's chest, kissing it and humming softly. The woman shuddered in the cop's arms, but tried to maintain her composure.

"Or maybe even there?" Beth paused and straightened her posture before looking back into Alison's eyes and saying, "Oh wait, are the kids home?"

"Yes," Alison whispered, shooting a look at Beth. The cop sighed and released the woman from her arms. "They're upstairs playing those game things you got them."

"Dammit. I just getting warmed up too," the detective teased before letting her face change to a vehement expression. "Ali, I need to get something off my chest."

"What's that, Beth?" Alison asked her softly.

"I need to tell you that I love you. I need to say this because... well... I'd- I'd love to... _marry_ you one day. I mean, if that'd be okay with you... Marriage is... a promise for forever, you know? And I thought you needed to know that I love you and will love you. For forever," Beth looked straight into Alison's eyes the entire time, her voice never wavering. She swallowed and continued, "That's my promise to you, Alison Hendrix. That I'll love you forever. Nothing can _ever_ break that. No matter what you do, or what I do. Because I'm a woman of my word and when I say I'll love you for eternity, I mean it. Alison—I can't picture myself with _anyone_ but you. And I wanted you to know this—_needed_ you to know this—so you know just how I feel. I know I haven't been very good with saying how I feel lately, but I guess it's because, well, I'm scared. Being so in love is a frightening thing, Alison. I'm afraid of losing you. I'm afraid that one day, I'll come home and this place will be empty and it won't feel like home anymore. I'm afraid that if I drive around long enough, I'll see you out with the kids and Donnie because you were scared too and left me because you feel more secure with—"

"Beth, hey... Hey..." Alison murmured, cutting the detective off from her longwinded spiel as she moved closer to the cop and stroked her hair in attempt to comfort her. The cop gazed at her lovingly and expectantly and Alison felt as though she were on fire on the inside. She didn't know how to react or what to say. She knew she'd have to go back to Donnie one day. She couldn't keep up her charade for forever and besides, even though she'd fallen for Beth, Donnie was still a friend and she didn't want to hurt him. Alison figured that Beth had probably picked up on that a long while ago, but kept her patience in hopes of Alison choosing her. Alison wet her lips before she tried speaking. "I love you, okay? That's all that matters. I love you. And I intend to stay with you as long as I can—"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Beth asked, pulling away. Her mistrustful eyes searched Alison's, hoping the inference running through her mind wasn't true. "A-Are you... _leaving_ me?"

"No! I'm not leaving!" Alison hurriedly corrected her, trying to reach for her. The detective backed up again, dodging Alison's attempt to touch her and discouraging her from trying again.

"Then what did you mean by that?" Beth inquired again, waiting too see how Alison would manage to dig herself out of this one.

"I don't— I don't know... what I meant by that," Alison sighed, putting a hand to the side of her face as if she were cradling it to comfort herself. "I don't even know why I said that—"

"_No?_" Beth replied, her tone sounding angry. Her eyebrows pulled into a scowl as her eyes glared at the woman she'd so deeply trusted. "No idea at all?"

"Beth—"

"_Bullshit!_" Beth spat, throwing her hands up and starting to walk away. She turned back around, her eyes furious and her lips curled back. "_Alison_—"

Beth's use of her full name stung Alison more than it should've.

"—if you're just going to leave..." Beth's voice cracked, but she pushed on with seething tone still. "Then I suggest you just get it over with and do it. Don't wait. Don't drag out your stay and put me through some _agonising_, _torturous_, _excruciating_ pain. Just _leave_."

"Beth, please—"

"That was your plan from the beginning, wasn't it?" Beth growled through clenched teeth, stepping closer to Alison rather than further away. "Satiate me. Have a little fun playing house. And then just leave. _Good_ plan, Alison. _Excellent_ plan. Hell, _I_ never even saw it coming!"

"Beth—" Alison's voice caught in her throat. "I'm- I'm not going to leave you, okay? I'll st—"

Beth huffed and stormed off, never letting Alison finish. The suburban woman prayed to God that her children were too immersed in their games to hear.


	13. Chapter 13: Goodnight, Ali

**. . .**

"Hey," Alison murmured to Beth, poking her head in the doorway. "Come kiss me goodnight."

"You're going to bed?" the cop asked, looking up from the magazine. She set it down and stood up before walking over to the suburban woman.

"Yeah... I'm exhausted," Alison told her. Their falling out had been several nights ago and it'd been a painfully slow recovery for both of them. Beth hadn't even talked to Alison for the first day or two and by the time she started, it'd only been minimal. Beth looked at her lips and made an event of cringing at her before planting a kiss on them.

"Ugh. You have tea breath," Beth complained. Alison rolled her eyes and laughed.

"You always say that," Alison reminded her.

"I know. That's because you always make me kiss you with it," Beth replied softly. She smiled and pressed her lips to Alison's once more. "G'night."

"'Night," Alison responded before she disappeared and padded down the hall. Beth made her way back over to the couch and picked the magazine up, but the words wouldn't formulate comprehensible sentences and she couldn't focus. Her brain just wouldn't work for her. It kept going to Alison. Not really anything in particular, just the woman and all the things they'd done together and conversations they'd had.

**. . .**

"Don't you think Donnie knows you're probably not coming back?" Beth pointed out sharply. Alison shook her head and took the cop's arm.

"No, that's what I'm trying to tell you! He's—"

"Stupid?"

"_No_... He's just... gullible."

"You know what they say... Gullible is just stupid in denial," Beth snorted, looking away. Alison's eyebrows knitted themselves together out of curiosity.

"Who says that?" she inquired. Beth rolled her eyes and turned to face her.

"Well, nobody. But that's what _I_ say. And I gotta count for something, right?" Beth paused. "Or you know what? Maybe I don't count for anything."

"Beth, you took what I said the other day way too seriously."

"Did I?" Beth asked skeptically. "Or are you just denying the true meaning yourself?"

Alison shook her head in resignation as she walked out of the room. Trying to get through to the stubborn detective seemed impossible and she didn't even have an answer to the cop's question. Perhaps she was gullible—stupid in denial, that is.

**. . .**

After a few more minutes of trying to read and failing epically, the cop sighed and put the magazine down, not even bothering to mark her spot. She decided to join Alison in the bedroom and just sleep. She figured that's what she needed. A nice long sleep.

Upon entering the bedroom, she saw Alison sitting up with her nose in a book. She looked up in reaction to seeing movement in her peripheral vision and smiled at the sight of the detective.

"Hello, Beth."

"Hey," Beth sighed, climbing into bed alongside her.

"Do you need to sleep? I just finished this chapter anyway..." Alison offered, looking over at the cop. Beth looked over at Alison before discreetly looking at the book page and saw no sign of a beginning of a new chapter—or the end of the current one, for that matter. Beth smirked and Alison realised her error too late as she tilted the book away from her. "Okay, you got me. But I did at least finish the page..."

"No you didn't," Beth countered, her smirk only growing.

"And how would you know that?" Alison asked with a challenging tone. Beth grinned smugly and looked into her eyes.

"Because that page doesn't end with the end of a sentence and you can't stand stopping at a place where the sentence doesn't end. You read until you find a page that ends with a complete sentence, punctuation and all," Beth informed her knowingly. "So I got ya twice."

"Okay, okay!" Alison admitted with a smile. "You got me twice. I'm about halfway through the page."

"So finish it. Or keep reading. I don't care," Beth told her kindly. "I'm not too tired yet anyway."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Beth assured her. "I won't even bother you."

Alison paused, wondering what the cop had meant by that, but went back to reading anyway. A few pages later, she'd realised what Beth had meant due to the lack of noise. Beth always did something to distract her, whether it was sexy or just simply talking. The cop was uncharacteristically still and quiet beside her. She looked over at Beth, who stared blankly at the ceiling with her hands clasped behind her head.

"Beth, you're quiet. That's not like you," Alison commented, closing the book. She'd finished a sentence anyway, one that ended the page just as Beth had predicted.

"Just making sure you get some quality reading time," Beth responded casually, not moving from her position. Alison remained silent, still trying to decode what that could have possibly meant.

"Well I think I'm done right now, so. If there's anything you feel like doing..." Alison hinted, sliding over to the cop. Beth's eyes moved to eye her carefully. The suburban woman forced herself to take it as a go-ahead and she rolled onto her stomach to face the cop before kissing her sweetly on the neck. Beth's rigid body refused to move as Alison's lips moved to the still woman's shoulder. "This is the part where you tell me that I'm what you feel like doing..."

"Not now, Alison," Beth murmured as she looked away and felt the soccer mom's lips traveling lower toward her chest. Alison rolled onto her back and sat up straight.

"Refusing sex? Definitely not like you," Alison forced a joking tone and threw in a laugh for good measure. "Who are you and what have you done with my Beth?"

Silence.

"Okay, well... What if we just talk?" Alison asked, wondering why Beth seemed so upset all the sudden. She'd thought they'd gotten past their little rough patch and she couldn't think of anything she'd done recently to cause Beth to act like this. She looked over at the cop and forced a strained smile at her. "Talk to me about anything. Dreams... Plans... What's bothering you... Anything at all."

"I just need to sleep, Alison. That's all," Beth smiled thinly at her before rolling over and facing the opposite direction.

"Well, before you do, could you do one thing for me?" Alison asked.

Another long silence stretched out before Beth responded, "What?"

"Call me Ali again," Alison requested of her. "Please."

"Goodnight..." Beth breathed, never turning around. "_Ali_."


	14. Chapter 14: We've Got Tonight

_Beth's right. I need to make a choice, _Alison told herself._ She's right. I can't just keep stringing her along if I do in fact intend to leave. If I'm leaving I should just go. Go! _she urged herself. Her brain fought with itself relentlessly and mercilessly.

"No! If I were going, I'd have left by now. So why haven't I?" she asked herself. She hung her head and closed her eyes as she replied aloud quietly, "I don't have the guts."

_Exactly. But then again... that's also the reason you haven't left Donnie,_ her brain countered.

"What's that got to do with anything?" she asked herself.

_I don't know._

"I can't leave Beth," she told herself. "There's no way. I can't do it."

_But you can't leave Donnie either,_ her mind reminded her. _That's why you're in this predicament in the first place._

"Alison, you _noodle_..." she scolded herself as she shook her head at her own indecisiveness.

_Look at you, Alison. You're sitting in the bedroom with your clothes all in a pile right beside you. What'd you intend to do with those, hm? Intensify laundry day? I think not! Make a gosh darn choice, woman! Donnie or Beth? Simple as that._

"It's not simple..." Alison sighed, cradling her own face with her hand. "It's anything but simple."

_Just rip the bandaid off already. You already know which path you're going on. Don't prolong it, her brain urged. You're so effing predictable—even Beth knew!_

"What if I don't want to be predictable?" Alison asked herself. "What if—"

"Alison?" Beth asked, through the closed bedroom door. "Are you alright? Are you talking to yourself?"

Beth's clean tone didn't reveal any knowledge of the recent conversation with herself and she tried to feel relieved. She eyed the pile of clothes on the bed and panicked. This was the last thing she wanted Beth to see when she came home. She heard the doorknob jiggle and she leapt over to it and grabbed it with her own hand as she leaned against the door itself.

"Alison, I can't—"

"Um... Just a second!" she called out. "I'm... I... Just wait a minute, okay?"

The jiggling stopped and once Alison felt confident Beth wouldn't try to come in again, she grabbed an armful of clothes and began stuffing them into the closet and her drawers. Within a minute, the bed was completely cleared and she straightened out the wrinkled sheets before adjusting her ponytail and trying not to look like a deer in headlights.

"You can come in now," Alison told Beth. The cop opened the door cautiously before doing a scrutinising scan of the room, but saw nothing out of place.

"Alison? What were you—"

"I'm _so_ happy you're home," Alison told her, pressing her lips on the cop's. Beth's eyes remained open during the kiss as they swept over the room for a second time, making Alison's heart pound.

"You're not going to ask me where I went?" Beth inquired, stepping farther into the room and still studying its interior. Alison's eyes looked around too, trying to catch anything she might've missed—not that it'd help at that point.

"Uh. Yeah. I was getting around to it," Alison replied. She paused before asking, "Where'd you go?"

"I went and got you something," Beth told her, pulling a small white box out of her pocket. "I saw you eyeing this one day, before you knew I existed. I never really could figure out why you didn't just buy it. But I put it on hold that same day in case I ever formed some kind of relationship with you and I figured today would be a good day to go and actually buy it for you."

Beth handed the box over to the suburban woman and waited for her to open it. Alison felt certain she knew what lie inside before she even opened it, but she looked anyway and saw a small, dainty cross on a chain.

"I didn't buy this because... Donnie wouldn't like it," she whispered, staring at the pendant in awe.

"Atheist?" Beth asked.

"No. He'd want me to wear something bigger," Alison explained, her eyes never wandering from the necklace. She looked up at the cop, who wore a satisfied smile on her face. "Thank you, Beth. Will you put this on me?"

"Sure," Beth responded, going around back Alison and clasping the necklace after she'd given it to her. "Oh, I just remembered. I have to go out and meet somebody—"

Alison threw her a look.

"Art," Beth specified, walking toward the closet oblivious to what lie inside. Alison panicked and grabbed the detective by the arm and pulled the woman toward her.

"Uh, Beth! I was wondering if..." Alison stalled. "If you could just... stay in tonight. You know, just you and me."

"What about the kids?" Beth inquired, not understanding Alison's sudden clinginess.

"They're— They're at a sleepover," Alison answered quickly. At least she wasn't lying.

"Alison, what's gotten into you?" Beth asked, giving up on trying to get to the closet. Alison relaxed and looked the cop in the eyes.

"I just... Really want to spend some time with you," the suburban woman responded. Beth felt a twinge of pain in her heart, wondering if Alison's sudden display of attachment meant something. The detective studied the woman's face, but couldn't reach a conclusion.

"Alright," Beth told her finally. "I'll stay in tonight."

"Great!" Alison replied, not even caring just how overly thankful her tone sounded. Beth made a move for the closet again and Alison reached out and caught her.

"_Relax_, Ali—"

Alison smiled, pleased at the casual use of the nickname being brought back voluntarily.

"—I'm just going to get my PJs, okay? If I'm staying in, I'm staying comfy," Beth told her. Alison looked around, trying to stall.

"Are your PJs in the closet?" Alison asked. "Since when?"

"Since you took over the dresser," Beth teased, yanking her arm free. Alison jumped in front of her and Beth stared curiously. "What, Ali? What is it?"

"How about we... try something new?" Alison asked, backing Beth up toward the bed.

"How about I get in my PJs first?" Beth replied, matching the suburban woman's tone. Alison pushed her onto the bed forcefully and Beth surrendered. "Okay then. We'll try something new."

Alison's eyes darted around the room until she saw a scarf sticking out of the closet. She pulled it out through the space between the door and the doorframe and rushed over to Beth before tying it around Beth's head, blocking her vision.

"I didn't know you were into this kinda stuff..." Beth commented. Alison opened the closet, but watched Beth to make sure she wasn't peeking before taking out some of her PJs for her. "Ali?"

"I'm still here," she assured her, closing the closet and striding over to the bed. "Stand up."

Beth stood up, not knowing what to expect. Her body practically tingled in anticipation and she felt the suburban woman tug upward from the bottom part of her shirt. She lifted her arms and allowed the woman to remove her shirt. Next, she felt Alison's hands at the fly of her jeans and the the sound of them being unsnapped. Soon after, she felt downward movement of her zipper before the woman began peeling her jeans off her before feeling the jeans bunch up at her ankles.

"Step out of them," Alison instructed. Beth obeyed and stepped out of them.

"You know, I'm kinda glad I decided to stay in tonight," Beth commented as she felt the clasp to her bra unhook. Alison stared at the almost naked woman in front of her before planting a kiss on her pulse point on her neck and wrapping her arms around her to slide the button-up PJ top on her. Beth sighed, "You tease."

"I know I am," Alison replied, kissing her way to Beth's stomach. She took one of Beth's legs and put it inside one pant leg, and then the other. She kissed the cop's knee before putting that leg inside the pants as well. She slid the pants up and rubbed her hands up from the bottom of Beth's legs to the cop's ass. "Mm, you're hot."

"I know I am," Beth responded, using the same tone Alison had. The suburban woman pressed her lips against Beth's stomach once more before standing up straight and kissing her jaw.

"You're ready," Alison told her, taking the blindfold off. Beth smirked and pulled Alison in.

"I _know_ I am," Beth growled, kissing the woman's chest.

"I meant to relax with me," Alison chuckled softly, tracing her finger up the detective's torso. "Although, I'm not against the other option..."

"Neither am I, but... I think it'd be better for us to just sit and relax together, don't you think?" Beth asked, starting to button up her shirt.

"Yes," Alison agreed. Beth went over to her music player and selected something as Alison watched. The suburban woman heard a slow, soft piano and waited for Beth to return before whispering, "What do you want?"

"I want to dance with you," Beth murmured back, pulling her close and swaying to the music as a man's voice sang softly along with the music.

_I know it's late._

_I know you're weary._

_I know your plans_

_Don't include me._

_Still here we are, both of us lonely,_

_Longing for shelter from all that we see..._

**. . .**

"Beth, pick up the _phone_, dammit!" Art shouted after hanging up his phone after the third attempt at reaching his partner.

"No luck?" Angela asked. The man shook his head. "Shit..."

"She's becoming less and less reliable as time goes on..." he muttered, ready to dial again.

"Where the hell is she?"

"I said I don't know!"

**. . .**

_Deep in my soul, _

_I've been so lonely._

Beth rested her head on Alison's shoulder and held her tightly as they swayed rhythmically with the song. The cop inhaled deeply, taking in the sweet scent of her girlfriend.

_All of my hopes, fading away._

_I've longed for love, like everyone else does._

Alison buried part of her face in Beth's shoulder and closed her eyes, savouring the peaceful moment between them.

_I know I'll keep searching, even after today..._

**. . .**

"Shit just hit the fan and _she's_ not here..." Angela remarked, looking to the sky for help as she put her hands on her hips. "Told you not to get her involved. You did. Now look what you've done."

"Shut up, Ang!" he snapped, dialling Beth again. No answer. He calmed his voice in time for the message tone. "Beth, this is urgent. I really need to talk to you—"

"Shit's hit the fan!" Angela added, interrupting Art. He gave her a deathly glare and she silenced herself.

"—Beth, we're in trouble. Call me when you get this. ASAP."

**. . .**

_I know it's late._

Beth stared blankly ahead at the wall as she and Alison rocked back and forth.

_I know you're weary._

Alison kept her gaze down on the ground as she sighed in Beth's arms. Neither of them knew if it was a content sigh or a tired sigh, but neither bothered to investigate either.

_I know your plans don't include me._

Beth shed a silent tear and dried it, unbeknownst to her lover.

_Still here we are, both of us lonely..._

**. . .**

"Look, if she doesn't pick up... We need to ditch her. Fast," Angela told Art. He shook his head with closed eyes and pressed his lips together.

"No. No, we're not doing that. We're not leaving Beth. She's our friend, Angela. We can't do that to her," Art responded. "We got her into this mess, the least we can do is stay long enough to get her out."

**. . .**

_We've got tonight._

Beth took her own head from Alison's shoulder to nestle it against her head before setting it straight so she could gaze at her silently.

_Who needs tomorrow?_

Alison looked up at her with glossy, adoring eyes.

_Let's make it last, let's find a way._

Beth gave her a small smile before kissing her tenderly on the lips.

_Turn out the light, come take my hand now..._

**. . .**

"And telling her that killing herself is the only way out is what friends do?" Angela shrieked at him.

"There's no other way!" he roared back. "Aldous and Rachel are after her, Angela. And us. She killed someone crucial to their experiment! And if and when they get to her, because you know they will, they won't let her go easy. At least if we out Fate into her hands, she'll have a chance."

"A chance? Suicide is giving her a chance?" Angela screamed incredulously.

"Yes. Because at least she'll go peacefully!" Art shouted.

"What the hell even makes you think she'll listen to you?" Angela asked. "She's got Alison now. What force on earth could possibly convince either of them that Beth dying is okay?"

Art went silent, for the woman had a point. Telling Beth that suicide was her only way out was one thing, but her actually doing it was another.

**. . .**

_We've got tonight, babe._

_Why don't you stay?_

_Why don't you stay?_


	15. Chapter 15: I Made a Deal with the Devil

"Beth, why didn't you pick up?" Art demanded to know as Beth answered her phone. "I tried calling you all of last night—"

"I know. I can see that. Seventeen missed calls. What, d'ya miss me, dipshit? Have a little separation anxiety from me, eh?"

"Beth, now's not the time for your wisecracks. We're in trouble."

"First of all, who's 'we?' Second of all, why is this supposed 'we' in trouble?" Beth asked, sobering up.

"You, Angela, and me. We're all in trouble. Rachel is out for blood," Art reported solemnly.

"And you're telling me this because..."

"Because _you_ shot a crucial part of their experiment and now they want our heads!" Art hissed. "And I don't want them to kill you, so I'm here to give you your options!"

"My _options?_ What the hell—"

"Your options are that you continue living in your wonderfully settled life with Ms. Alison Hendrix," Art began.

"Sounds good to me—"

"And die at the hands of Rachel, which I can tell you will _not_ be pleasant. I know they have every intention of making you _suffer _until your last breath. Your second option is that you kill yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Beth. I'm offering you a way out."

"A way out? And how the _fuck_ does that qualify as a—"

"Beth, they're going to kill you one way or another. And if I know them as well as you do, they'll torture you to death—"

"So?"

"—_in front of Alison_."

Art listened to the static as Beth fell silent. He mentally apologised to her for having to deliver this news and for having to say that to her.

"Beth, this is your chance to go peacefully. You said it yourself you wondered why Fate hadn't killed you yet. Perhaps this is its way of making sure you die. Perhaps your name swatch was legit. You were an assassin. Assassins kill people. Thousands, maybe."

"I didn't kill a thousand—"

"Not yet," Art countered. "What's your body count before Alison? Fifty-one? And now that you've killed Chen? Fifty-two? It's increasing again. How do you know you won't be put in situations in which you'll have to kill another person?"

More silence.

"I'm sorry, Beth. But this is the only way."

**. . .**

"Tell me again why I shouldn't kill you," Rachel commanded, pointing the gun to Art's head. "Or even DeAngelis, while I'm at it."

"Because DeAngelis had nothing to do with it, you saw that. She went to the bathroom for Christ's sake," Art spat, uselessly trying to free himself of his restraints.

"And you?"

Art went silent and ignored Rachel's question. She whacked him on the side of his face in anger and repositioned the gun to face his forehead again.

"I'm going to ask you again. Why shouldn't I kill you?" she repeated through clenched teeth. Art stared down the barrel of the gun and showed no fear, though he knew he'd crack. He was far too selfish when it came to his own life. "Answer me!"

"Because!" he blurted, surprised at his readiness to give up. He made a mental note to himself, telling himself to change that selfishness in the future if he ever made it out alive. "Because I can give you something you want."

"Don't flatter yourself, Art," Rachel sneered, cocking the gun and causing the man to flinch.

"_Someone_," Art corrected breathlessly. "I can give you _someone_ you want."

"Elizabeth Childs?" Rachel asked, though she already knew the answer. "Because that's the only person I want and who's on my list right now."

"Yes..." he whispered.

"Speak up!"

"Yes!" he growled. "Elizabeth Childs."

"Tell me where she'll be," Rachel demanded. Art looked up at her with tired eyes, but they had no effect on her.

"At the police station..." he murmured in anguish. "She has a hearing."

"I'll bet she does," Rachel snickered cruelly, tucking her gun away. She untied the man and kicked him to the ground as soon as he stood. "I'll leave you alone, Art. But just know this: I'll _never_ be done with you."

**. . .**

"Beth, _please_ pick up..." Art pleaded into the phone as it rang and rang. He tapped his foot impatiently.

"Detective Childs—"

"Beth, don't kill yourself—"

"—leave your name and number after the tone. I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

"Dammit!" Art cried, hanging up. He dialled again, waited for the message tone and began speaking promptly. "Beth, listen. You don't have to kill yourself... I'm not in danger, DeAngelis isn't in danger—"

His voice caught in his throat, for he knew why he was trying to dissuade Beth. He needed Rachel to catch her in order to ensure his and Angela's safety. Self-hatred burned at his core.

"Just... Call me when you get this," he finished lamely, shaking his head at himself. He told himself that if Beth made it out alive, he'd have to come clean and apologise for everything he put her through. His own cell ringing interrupted his thoughts and his heart surged at the thought of Beth replying so quickly. "Beth? I didn't think you'd—"

"Cool your ballsack, Art. It's just me," DeAngelis remarked. Art sighed heavily, to which she replied, "Am I that boring compared to Childs? _Sheesh!_"

"No, no... It's not that..." Art apologised. "Sorry."

"What's the status of our situation?"

"Duncan captured me and tortured me. But I handled her and we're safe now."

"We are?"

"Well, yes. _We_ are. As in, you and me. Beth, however... Isn't."

"Art, what the hell did you do?"

"I couldn't win, Angela. I couldn't. There was no way. I had to save as many of us as I could. I had to sacrifice Beth, give her up."

"Art...?" Angela paused, not wanting to continue. "What. Did you. _Do?_"

"I made a deal with the Devil."


	16. Chapter 16: One Life for a Thousand

The cop stared at the pill container in her hand, the one Art had handed to her days ago. He'd said he'd found it in her desk and figured she'd know what to do with it.

'_You're damn right_,' she'd answered him, intending to throw it out. But then something happened and she'd relapsed again. She couldn't bear telling him or even Alison, not that that woman would be very helpful at that point—she hadn't been with her at that moment of weakness, so she kept it to herself.

Art had put too much faith in her and now here she was, about to take a few right in public. She shook her head, but unscrewed the cap all the same. She dumped a few out—didn't even count them, but she knew it was more than her normal dose—and swallowed them dry and singularly before screwing the cap back on. An all-too familiar routine, really.

Beth's heels tapped against the ground softly, despite feeling heavy, with each pacing step she took. Her feet were killing her—she hated wearing heels—her nylons felt itchy against her legs, her dress felt a little too clingy as if it were a straitjacket, and her blazer felt as if it were slowly suffocating her. The cuffs around her wrists were just too small for her liking even though they barely even touched her skin and the collar just hung too close to her neck for comfort. Her purse kept whacking her as she walked and the bobby pins in her hair dug into her scalp like hungry insects out for blood. She felt exhausted and everything just felt wrong.

She'd had a long day and she'd began to feel dizzy. The had chief chewed her out, despite her still being on suspension, for that civilian shooting in which she was involved—she found it ironic just how unaccidental that civilian shooting had actually been and how she'd assassinated that poor middle-aged Chinese lady by the name of Margaret "Maggie" Chen and just how ironic it was that she'd left the assassin's life to righten herself and not assassinate anyone anymore. She wondered if the shooting had happened by a divine intervention, if it was someone's plan that she discover an illegal experiment and assassinate one of its possible founders. But despite all that, she just kept telling herself that she'd come home to Alison just setting the table for their punctual dinner together with the kids at exactly six-thirty.

She'd stumble in through the door and Alison would greet her with an electric, infectious smile and a hug and a kiss or two before resuming with dinner and Alison would sit and listen to Beth intently as she ranted and raved about her day and how much the chief was up her ass about something or how stupid criminals can be. Alison was good like that. And Alison would be wearing that necklace Beth had given her. She rarely took it off since the day the cop had put it on her herself. But Alison wouldn't be there wearing that necklace. She wouldn't be there to greet Beth. She'd left. The exact thing she promised she wouldn't do. She'd left and went back to living with Donnie. Exactly as Beth had anticipated, for she knew Alison too well. Only she'd hoped she'd been wrong that one time or that Alison would break the assassin's profiling of her. But she didn't. And perhaps it was for the best.

Beth pushed that memory away because that one vision of Alison waiting to greet her when she got home was what kept her going throughout the day. That one thing she just repeated to herself over and over and over again.

_Alison._

Suddenly Beth felt a tear roll down her cheek. And before she could even react, more tears came streaming down her face and she was crying hysterically in public as she waited for her train. She put her hands on her head and looked up at the ceiling as if she were looking for God through that cold metal above her head. She saw nothing of course and she looked back down at the platform. She took out her cellphone, encased in pink plastic—a protective cover Alison had chosen for her—and checked it.

**1 missed call**

**Art**

She ignored it and did something with it—she couldn't quite remember or comprehend—for everything from there was a blur. The crying, the emotional pain, the aloneness, the talking to herself, everything.

When her mind recovered, the first thing she thought about was how much her purse was pissing her off. It needed to go. She set the bag down and relished the loss of the seemingly heavy load. She decided she could lose those damned shoes too, so she slipped her left foot out of her shoe, then her right and savoured the feeling of the cool concrete against the natural curve of her feet. She was beginning to feel better already.

And she took off that smothering jacket and folded it neatly before laying it on top of her shoes. Yes, much lighter indeed. She heard a faint tapping of footsteps behind her.

_Alison_, the name flashed across her mind. She cleared her mind of the suburban woman and forced herself to keep her focus ahead. _What will Alison think?_

_Fate_, the word flashed soon afterword. She stared blankly down the train tracks looking for any sign of her train. She heard someone arguing with someone over the phone earlier, but the voice could no longer be heard. _Fate knows. Fate knew I'd kill again. I should've offed myself earlier. Maggie Chen wouldn't have had to die. But I wanted to be selfish and live a supposedly free life. Well guess what? The Loom is never wrong. One life for a thousand. I, Elizabeth Childs, am a woman of her word, a woman who swore to uphold Fate. And I, Elizabeth Childs, am a name wanted by Fate... __I left Fate no choice. It had to eliminate me one way or another. Better a means of my choice than letting myself fall into the clutches of Aldous and Rachel—_

The bell of an approaching train—her train—interrupted her thoughts and she turned around in anticipation. She came face to face with a woman who looked like Alison underneath her dark eyeliner—the last thing Beth wanted to see before jumping. Her dead eyes stared into those of the stranger for a moment as one last tear ran down her cheek before she turned again to face the tracks. She could see the train coming out of the corners of her eyes.

_Only a few more seconds_, she told herself. _Only a few more seconds..._

She took one step with her left foot.

_A few more seconds until you see Alison_, she lied to herself. _Alison will be waiting for you when you come home. She'll greet you with that beautiful smile of hers. That rare smile only you get to see... And she'll smother you with those soft kisses of hers, just so happy to be there with you. Just so happy..._

Right foot. Her head began to spin.

_A few more seconds and Fate will be satisfied,_ her thoughts told her, shifting from her happy place. Left foot. She tried to comfort herself. _It's for the best, Beth. One life for a thousand..._

Right foot. Her dizziness reared its ugly head and raged within her.

_And guess what is it that you have to look forward to on the other side? Alison. She'll come see you one day. And until then, you can sit there waiting to greet her with a huge smile. And when she comes you'll give her a hug and smother her with _your_ kisses..._

Left foot. She felt high.

_And you two can be happy together for eternity, just like you promised her. No more targets. No more victims. No more fear and no more running, but above all else... No pain..._

Left foot. Higher than she'd ever felt, even with Alison.

_For anyone._

Right foot. Her head spun more and more as she approached the train; she could barely contain herself and walk straight.

_Not for you and not for her._

Left foot—

**Blackness.**


	17. Chapter 17: Beth's Peter

Beth had killed herself, as far as Alison knew. The suicide had occurred late at night, after Alison's dinner with her family and after putting Oscar and Gemma to bed; after her late-night cup of tea she drank before bed, but before brushing her teeth. Her husband had turned the TV on to the news channel and went up to the bathroom. Alison had only innocently been passing by with some recently folded clothes when she happened to glance at the TV and see an all too familiar face flash onto the screen, a face that not only belonged to her, but also Beth. She'd stopped dead in her tracks before snapping out of her fearful paralysis and rushing to turn the volume up so she could hear it better...

**. . .**

"...tires _screeching_ after pulling the emergency brake just as a young unidentified woman walked off the platform, and in front of one of Huxley Station's very own trains. While the train had been slowing down, the impact was indeed fatal. Witnesses say she was a Caucasian woman about thirty years old—"

Alison's heart sunk and she sat down on the couch, too weak to stand as she watched the camera cut to a random eyewitness. She didn't want to believe that Beth had left her just like that, so abruptly. No. Beth wouldn't do that. The Beth she knew had a fighter mentality. She wouldn't just kill herself to solve her problems. Beth wouldn't resort to that even if it seemed as though it were the only choice. Her hand flew to stroke the cross hung around her neck as she listened intently to the TV.

"Yeah, she had brown hair... Nicely dressed. I heard crying and just as I turned around, she'd jumped and it was too late to save her," a man reported, his eyes red. The name 'Matt' appeared underneath the man's face on a blue digitally-inserted bar.

"Did she say anything, Sir?" an offscreen female reporter asked, pointing the mic back at the man—Matt.

"No, I mean, I don't think so—"

"She'd had a pink cellphone in her hand," a woman added as the camera cut to another witness—Melissa.

"You said she was crying. Did you hear any part of the conversation?" the same offscreen voice asked, tilting the mic back after speaking.

"Well, no. I assumed the person on the other end had given her some bad news or something... Then she just- she just put the phone away, I guess—I didn't see that part. I figured give her some privacy and not gawk, you know? Nobody wants to cry in front of an audience—"

"And she was calm," Matt stated softly and slowly as the camera cut back to the first witness as he put a hand behind his neck. "Man was she calm..."

"Sir, you said she was calm. Other witnesses say she was crying—"

"Well she was—crying... But in those seconds right before her first step toward the train... She was calm. As if she hadn't a care in the world—"

The news flashed back to the anchorman and he opened his mouth to speak emotionlessly, trained and professional.

"Police are not releasing any details on the unfortunate death of this woman, however the first responder stated that she had no form of identification on her and urges anyone that has any information that may be helpful to the investigation to call."

Beth Childs was dead. Dead. Gone. Never coming back. Alison tried to breathe, but her lungs wouldn't work. Her feet were nailed to the floor and her eyes glued to the screen as her mind raced. She'd received the news from Jeff Davis, an anchorman for the news station. A random face from the TV screen. A stranger. Nothing special, nothing personal or heartfelt. Just cold, hard facts like everybody else watching the story play out on their TV screens. No apology, no explanation, no warning. Just a complete stranger and some speculation. The TV screen projected random colors throughout the room, but Alison couldn't care less. Her Beth had died and she hadn't even paid attention to the clues the detective had dropped even before she'd left. None. But she knew they were there. They had to be. She'd stopped talking of a future with her. She'd stopped smiling long before that. Her actions had lost their accuracy and precision and turned erratic and fluctuated more and more.

"The weekend is going to be a warm one, folks! For Saturday, we're looking at a high of—"

Alison turned the television off robotically and barely even realized she had until Donnie returned to the room donning a worried expression.

"Honey—are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Donnie commented as he made his way over to the sofa and sat down next to her. He got no response out of Alison and he took her hand. "Alison?"

"Some woman—" Alison's voice caught in her throat and she tried to swallow that hard lump. "She jumped. In front of a train..."

"Suicide? When did this happen?" Donnie asked.

"Tonight... It- It was on the news."

"It's always tragic when that kind of stuff happens..." Donnie remarked, hanging his head. He stroked Alison's hand with his thumb in an effort to comfort her. "Person must've been in a good amount of pain to resort to that. It's so sad..."

"It's stupid," Alison spat, violently standing up and balling her hands into fists. She turned to look at Donnie in the eyes. "_She's_ stupid."

"Alison, that's not very nice... You shouldn't judge—"

"No. It's stupid. And it's selfish! She—"

"Shhh, you're going to wake the kids," Donnie reminded her. Alison consciously lowered her volume.

"She was an _idiot_ to do that! She probably had people who loved her—_loved_ her, Donnie. With _every inch_ of their being! And she just selfishly took her own life! For- For what? Because things got to be too much? Who is she to do that, to- to play _God?_ Huh, Donnie? She was only thinking of herself! Probably didn't even leave a note! It's selfish and _stupid!_ Admit it, Donnie."

"I'm not condoning suicide, but I'm sure she had her reasons..." Donnie reasoned, trying to hug Alison. The woman pushed him away and picked up the clothes she'd dropped.

"No. No..." Alison shook her head as she walked away to the bedroom and grumbled incoherently, leaving Donnie sitting alone on the couch. She climbed heavily into her bed and wrapped herself up in all the layers of sheets as she spoke quietly to herself. "She's not stupid. She's not selfish... _I_ am stupid and _I_ am selfish. I shouldn't have left her. I had it made and I just torched it and threw it all away—I should've known... All the signs... I should've known."

Alison's phone vibrated from the nightstand, alerting her that she had a missed notification. And for some reason in the midst of her despair, she decided to see what it was. She figured it'd be a good distraction. She lifted a heavy arm and moved it to weakly pick the phone up and bring it over to herself so she could read it.

**1 missed call**

**Beth**

Alison's heart sunk and she felt sick. The phone that that unidentified Caucasian woman of about thirty had in her hand. Beth had tried to call her. And she hadn't heard it because it'd been on silent. She took a deep breath before accessing the message and allowing it to play in her ear.

_Hey, Ali..._

Alison couldn't believe how weak and broken Beth sounded. It broke her heart, but she forced herself to continue listening.

_If you're listening to this, then I guess it's probably too late. It's... the voice paused and Alison could picture Beth checking her watch. a little past nine right now—_

Alison checked the phone to see what time she'd received the message. The phone's screen read 9:13 PM. Only a little over a half hour ago.

_—so you've probably already finished your cup of tea. But you haven't brushed your teeth yet, I know that. You probably have that tea breath I always complained about, but secretly I love it. It's warm and sweet like you, Ali._

Another pause. A shaky sigh. Some background noise from the station.

_I guess I should start by telling you that I'm not mad at you, even though I yelled at you. I was—and still am, really—a little heartbroken to say the least, but I understand why you did what you did and I guess I can respect that... Anyways, I wanted to tell you that I did this because I was supposed to, Ali. I promised to follow Fate when I was with the Fraternity. I swore loyalty to it—I'm a woman of my word, remember? I was supposed to die. My name was printed in the threads of the Loom of Fate... Fate wanted me dead. And truth is, I suppose Fate was right. I killed so many people before you, Ali... I was the one that should've died to save that thousand, as the saying goes—_

"Stupid..." Alison murmured, putting a palm on her forehead.

_—and I've killed again._

Another drawn out pause as Alison's heart stopped. Beth had murdered again and she hadn't even known about it. The shooting. Alison had thought it'd been a misfire and Beth had accidentally shot a woman. She hadn't known it'd been a murder. She thought Beth was carrying the guilt of injuring someone, but no, she'd been carrying the burden of _murder_.

_A woman named Margaret Chen. And before you judge, I knew she'd been part of an illegal experiment that tested on humans from the stages of fetal development to adulthood... I don't know much more. But I couldn't let them test on children, Ali, believe me. The thought of children like Oscar and Gemma being tested on... It just... It angered me. So I shot her. I'm sorry, Ali... I know you just be pretty pissed—sorry, ticked—at me. For the shooting and for this message. But remember what I told you? I said if I ever left—anyone for that matter—I'd go for a message or a note... So here it is:_

Alison remembered. It was when she first talked about breaking the news of her moving in with Beth to Donnie. Way before she'd constructed that elaborate lie. And for some reason, Alison couldn't be mad at Beth for shooting the woman.

_I _love_ you, Alison Hendrix. I will love you forever, remember? Nothing's gonna change that. Not even this. I just wanted to remind you one last time. Oh and um... I liked being here. And I liked it when you were here._

Alison could hear a forced smile in Beth's tone as she threw the one-line inside joke of theirs at her for the last time. She tried to ignore the past tense, but Beth's voice blared it in her mind.

"I liked it when you were here too," Alison whispered. She heard Beth chuckle sadly as if she'd heard Alison's reply. Even at the end, she'd had Alison down pat and knew her like the back of her hand. "But you didn't have to leave."

_I'm sorry, Ali. I'm so sorry... I promise I'll greet you with a hug and a kiss when you cross over and when it's your time. But don't rush that... Oscar and Gemma need a mom, especially one as wonderful as you. Goodbye, my love. Goodbye, Alison. I love you very much._

Alison heard Beth blow a kiss into the phone before the message ended, a feat that she couldn't ever get Beth to do before whenever she asked. In the end, Beth really had been for her. All for her. Donnie broke Alison's place of sanctuary as he entered their bedroom with a tired look.

"Where'd you get that?" he asked, pointing to the pendant in Alison's hands. She hadn't even realised that she'd touched it again. She let go of it and let it hang freely from her neck.

"A... _friend_," she answered lamely. She hated herself for using that word. What she and Beth had was something much more special than a mere friendship. And yet here she was, being Beth's Peter¹ and denying her.

"Oh," Donnie replied. "It's too small."

"I think it's beautiful," Alison told him matter-of-factly. "It's perfect."

"Are you going to sleep with that on?" Donnie asked.

"Yeah, actually..." Alison responded, clicking the light off.

"You've never slept with jewelry on before..." he commented, covering himself with the sheets.

"Well I am now," Alison answered sharply.

"That doesn't even make any sense—"

"Be quiet, Donnie. I'm trying to sleep," Alison told him. This would be her one act of defiance for the late ex-assassin—defying her own persona, just as Beth had wanted all along—her way of telling Beth she loved her, one last time.

Even if it _was_ too late.

* * *

**¹Beth's Peter** — _a reference to the Apostle Peter who denied his relationship with Jesus, ashamed and fearful of execution._


End file.
